(%^Uiyt'*4ct(  tt  ^H*^tAi^ 


/    .    / 


LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

Theological    Seminary, 

PRINCETON,    N.  J. 

C««c,..'IB^^47.6f  .P'^'^'°" 

-Sf^e^/;. .,  Mi2. Section 

Booh,  No ^ 


MANUAL 


SACRED    INTERPRETATION 


SPECIAL  BENEFIT 


JUNIOR  THEOLOGICAL  STUDENTS : 


BUT  INTENDED  ALSO  FOR  PRIVATE   CHRISTIANS   IN 
GENERAL. 


By  ALEX.  McCLELLAND, 

PH.0FE3S0B   OF    BIBLICAL   LITEBATUS.S  IN  THS  THEOLOGICAL 
SEMINARY  AT    ITSW-BBUNSWICE:. 


NEW-YORK: 

ROBERT  CARTER,  58,  CANAL-STREET. 

18  4  2. 


E.  LUDWIG,  PRINTKB, 
73  Veaey  at,  W.  Y. 


PREFACE. 


The  following  little  work  was  drawn  up  with  exclusive 
reference  to  the  wants  of  the  Junior  Class  in  the  Theo- 
logical Semuiary  with  which  the  author  is  connected,  and 
was  intended  as  a  general  introduction  to  the  subject  of 
which  it  treats.  His  design  in  publishing  it,  is  to  spare 
the  young  gentlemen  some  weary  hours  in  writing  im- 
perfect and  erroneous  transcripts,  while  he  thinks  that  it 
may  be  useful  to  others  in  their  situation. 

He  has  attempted  to  give  a  faithful  statement  of  the 
general  laws  and  principles  of  sacred  interpretation,  in  a 
form  so  popular  and  devoid  of  technicality,  that  the  stu- 
dent fresh  from  a  literary  institution  can  comprehend  the 
whole  at  two  or  three  sittings,  and  make  an  immediate  use 
of  them  in  reading  the  Scriptures.  It  will  be  seen  at  once, 
that  the  treatise,  both  in  its  plan  and  the  details  of  its  exe- 
cution, differs  entirely  from  Professor  Stuart's  Translation 
of  Emesti.  That,  is  certainly  an  excellent  work,  but  I 
think  that  it  is  wanting  in  simplicity,  "  lucidusordo,"  and 
appropriate  illustrations.  Young  minds  are  not  success- 
fully addressed  by  dry  apothegms  and  abstractions.    Cases 


IV  PREFACE. 

must  be  adduced,  which  will  give  them  hue  and  colouring, 
and  the  form  of  composition  should  be  that  of  continued 
argument,  both  to  satisfy  the  understanding  and  impress 
the  memory.  Whether  I  have  made  a  happy  selection  of 
examples,  the  reader  may  judge.  They  are  for  the  most 
part  such  as  occurred  to  me  at  the  time  of  writing.  I 
have  only  to  add  that  there  are  scarcely  three  pages  in  the 
whole  volume,  so  exclusively  addressed  to  theological  stu- 
dents, that  the  unlearned  reader  can  derive  no  advantage 
from  them.  It  is  hoped  therefore,  that  private  Christians 
will  not  find  their  money  thrown  away  in  purchasing  it. 
To  them  as  well  as  to  the  ministry,  our  blessed  Lord 
addresses  the  command,  "  Search  the  Scriptures  ;"  and 
the  manner  of  their  performing  the  duty,  will  be  a  solemn 
item  in  the  account  which  they  must  render. 


CONTENTS. 


Page. 
Definitions, 7 

MAXIM    I. 

The  object  of  interpretation  is  to  give  the  precise 
thoughts  which  the  writer  intended  to  express,     .     .        8 

MAXIM    II. 

Scripture  is  to  be  interpreted  in  the  same  method,  we 
employ  in  ascertaining  the  meaning  of  any  other  work,      10 

MAXIM    III. 

The  sense  of  Scripture  is  (in  general)  one;  in  other 
words  we  are  not  to  assign  many  meanings  to  a 
passage, 14 

MAXIM    IV. 

The  interpretation  of  Scripture  requires  suitable  pre- 
paration, , 18 

SPECIAL  RULES. 

RULE    I. 

Carefully  investigate  what  is  called  the  "  Usus  Lo- 
quendi;"  or  the  meaning  which  custom  and  common 
usage  attach  to  expressions, 21 


VI  CONTENTS. 

RULE    II. 

Examine  the  parallel  passages, 27 

RULE    III. 

The  consideration  of  the  author's  scope  greatly  facili- 
tates interpretation,       33 

RULE    IV. 
Examine  the  Context, 39 

RULE    V. 

We  must  know  the  character,  age,  sect,  and  other  pe- 
culiarities of  the  writer, 53 

RULE    VI. 

Let  there  be  a  constant  appeal  to  the  tribunal  of  com- 
mon sense, Gl 

RULE    VII. 

Study  attentively  the  tropes  and  figures  of  the  Sacred 
Scriptuies, 73 

RULE    VIII. 
Attend  to  Hebrew  and  Hebraistic  idioms, 102 

RULE    IX. 

Much  of  Scripture  being  Prophetical,  we  should  ac- 
quaint ourselves  with  the  nature  and  laws  of  that 
kind  of  composition, 115 

Addresis  to  Theological  Students 143 


MANUAL    &c. 

Hermeneutics  is  the  Science  of  Interpre- 
tation. Sacred  hermeneutics,  has  for  its  ob- 
ject, the  holy  Scriptures  of  the  Old  and  New 
Testaments.  Exegesis  is  the  practical  appli- 
cation of  the  Science.  This,  gives  us  the 
laws — the  former,  executes  them.  Thus,  we 
speak  of  the  Exegesis  of  a  passage,  accord- 
ing to  Hermeneutical  principles. 

All  that  we  purpose  to  say  on  the  subject 
in  this  brief  treatise,  shall  be  arrranged  un- 
der two  Heads  : 

I.  We  shall  lay  down  some  general  Max- 
ims, useful  to  be  fixed  in  the  mind  as  a  pre- 
paration for  the  study  ; 

II.  Give  the  rules  in  detail  by  which  we 
should  be  guided. 


O  SCRIPTURE    NJT    TO    BB 

MAXIM  I. 

The  object  of  Interpi'etation,  is  to  give 
the  precise  thoughts  ivhich  the  sacred  writer 
intended  to  express.  No  other  meaning  is  to 
be  sought,  but  that  which  hes  in  the  words 
themselves,  as  he  employed  them.  In  all 
cases,  we  should  take  a  sense  from  Scripture 
rather  than  bring  one  to  it.  This  rule  is  fun- 
damental :  and  yet  how  often  is  it  violated  ! 
Some,  will  allow  no  other  sense  but  what  has 
been  baptized  in  their  philosophy,  or  abstract 
notions  of  moral  fitness.  These,  in  reading 
the  Bible,  make  one  as  they  go.  Thus,  they 
nowhere  find  the  doctrines  of  the  Trinity,  or 
Original  Sin,  of  Atonement,  Justification  by 
Faith,  or  Divine  Influence  :  some  even,  are 
unable  to  discover  Miracles.  Hence  the 
bloody  violence  which  they  practice  on  every 
thing  that  comes  in  their  way.  A  Socinian 
can  read  the  fifty-third  chapter  of  Isaiah, 
without  perceiving  any  trace  of  Vicarious 
Suffering  ;  can  turn  the  \  ccpx^  in  the  begin- 
ning of  John,  into  the  "  commencement  of  the 
Christian  dispensation ;"  and  refuses  to  the 


TRIED  BY    OUR    OPINIONS.  9 

Only  Begotten  of  the  Father,  any  higher  di- 
ploma than  that  of  an  accomplished  teacher 
of  morals.  Nothing  is  too  absurd  or  arbitra- 
ry, for  one  who  brings  the  word  of  God  to 
the  touchstone  of  his  own  speculative  opin- 
ions. To  him  it  is  no-  revelation  at  all ;  for 
it  teaches  only  what  he  knows  already. 

Others,  make  it  speak  invariably  according 
to  their  theological  systems.  When  they  sit 
down  to  interpret,  they  think  of  nothing  but 
what  they  call  the  "Analogy  of  Faith."  Provi- 
ded they  explain  the  passage  consistently 
with  it,  all  is  well.  The  Analogy  of  Faith  is, 
within  certain  limits,  exceedingly  useful. — 
But  it  has  been  carried  too  far  ;  and  made  to 
include  all  that  a  man  thinks  or  guesses  at  on 
the  subject  of  religion.  Undoubtedly  there 
are  certain  truths  in  the  Bible,  which  we  are 
at  liberty  to  assume,  and  by  which  we  may 
reason  analogically  concerning  the  meaning 
of  dubious  passages.  Such  are  the  doctrines 
of  the  Unity  and  Perfections  of  God,  Man's 
Moral  Accountability,  the  Fall,  Redemption 
by  Grace,  and  Divine  Influence.  Any  expo- 
sition of  a  text  contradicting  these,  we  may 


10  THE   BIBLE   TO   BE   EXPLAINED 

put  down  at  once  as  disagreeing  with  the 
Analogy  of  Faith.  This  rule  is  a  good  one, 
and  applied  in  the  interpretation  of  all  wri- 
ters. But  surely  we  have  no  right  to  set  up 
our  whole  system  of  religious  belief,  includ- 
ing the  minutest  of  our  sectarian  peculiari- 
ties, as  a  criterion  of  truth  !  This,  is  to  make 
our  creed  expound  the  word  of  God,  instead 
of  letting  the  word  of  God  frame  our  creed, 
and  establishes  a  principle  as  arbitrary  and 
odious  as  that  of  the  Socinian.  Our  ordina- 
ry Commentaries  are  greatly  disfigured  with 
the  fault  just  mentioned — being  rather  dog- 
matical paraphrases,  than  expositions  of  Scrip- 
ture itself.  In  few  do  we  discover  an  unfet- 
tered and  liberal  spirit.  The  Romanist,  Lu- 
theran, and  Calvinist,  peep  out  at  the  end  of 
every  line. 


MAXIM  II. 

Scripture  is  to  he  interpreted  in  the  same 
method  which  we  e?nploy,  in  discovering  the 
7neaning  of  any  other  book.     It  was  indited 


LIKE  ANY    OTHER  BOOK.  11 

to  men  ;  it  speaks  to  men,  in  the  language  of 
men  ;  and  was  understood  by  those  to  whom 
in  ancient  times  it  was  addressed,  as  they  un- 
derstood any  other  communication.  The  de- 
sign of  God  in  giving  it,  was  to  communicate 
certain  ideas — in  order  to  which,  he  must 
speak  to  us,  just  as  do  others.  Words  call 
up  ideas,  not  by  any  native  significance,  but 
by  compact,  and  every  one  in  speaking  is 
supposed  to  conform  to  the  bargain.  If  he 
does  not,  but  employs  language  in  a  sense 
different  from  that  established  by  common 
use,  he  is,  to  all  intents  and  purposcj,  a  Cov- 
enant Breaker.  In  reading  Scripture,  there- 
fore, we  are  to  use  the  same  appliances  and 
aids  employed  in  other  cases.  Inspiration 
gives  it  no  spc_ial  privileges.  Rather  may 
we  suppose,  that  a  revelation  of  God's  will 
to  the  great  world  of  mankind,  must  be  pe- 
culiarly susceptible  of  popular  interpretation, 
and  positively  require  it.  This  rule  sweeps 
away  at  once  a  host  of  errors  :  We  shall 
specify  two. 

1st.  That  of  the  Papists,  who  contend  that 
the   Exposition  of  Scripture  is  entirely  sui 


12  THE   BIBLE   TO  BE   EXPLAINED 

generis,  and  supernatural — being  committed 
to  Holy  Mother  Church,  consisting  of  the 
Pope,  Decrees  of  Councils,  and  the  ancient 
Fathers.  The  pretension  is  rejected  by  all 
sound  Protestants  with  disgust.  While  we 
say  that  the  Bible  is  the  book  of  God,  we  af- 
firm with  equal  emphasis,  that  it  is  the  Book 
of  Man,  and  can  be  understood  by  man  in 
the  use  of  the  ordinary  means.  We  also  af- 
firm that  Holy  Mother,  with  her  Councils 
and  Fathers,  has  given  too  many  proofs  of 
something  worse  than  mere  fallibility,  to  be 
entrusted  with  the  authoritative  exposition  of 
it.  The  Patristic  interpretations  of  Scripture 
are,  with  a  few  exceptions,  contemptible.  Je- 
rome, Theodoret,  and  Chrysostom,  are  all 
that  a  modern  can  quote,  and  absurdities  of 
every  kind  are  found  even  in  them.  They 
were  all  ignorant  of  Hebrew,  except  Jerome  : 
The  later  Fathers  knew  httle  of  Greek.  When 
they  used  citations  in  controversy,  they  took 
any  thing  (as  Jerome  himself  acknowledges) 
which  seemed  likely  to  confound  their  oppo- 
nents ;  and  there  was  scarcely  one,  who  did 
not  prefer  an  allegorical  explanation,  or  some 


LIKE   ANY   OTHER  BOOK.  13 

frigid  and  far-fetched  conceit,   to   the  plain 
sense  of  a  passage. 

2dly.  The  errors  of  Fanatics  and  Enthu- 
siasts ;  such  as  Quakers  and  Swedenborgians, 
who  boast  of  certain  immediate  revelations, 
which  they  call  the  "  Word  of  God  within" 
This  interior  light  is  the  supreme  rule,  which 
entirely  dispenses  with  every  thing  else — 
with  the  knowledge  of  languages,  philoso- 
phy, logic,  and  common  sense.  With  it, 
every  shoe-black  is  abundantly  qualified  to 
expound  all  mysteries.  Without  it,  "  all  the 
learning  in  the  world,^'  says  the  famous  Bar- 
clay, "  will  only  make  light  darkness,  and 
turn  the  truth  into  a  lie."  How  the  Bible 
fares  in  such  hands,  their  writings  show. — 
Yet  it  would  be  folly  to  reason  with  such  peo- 
ple. sThey  are  above  reason  :  theirs  is  the 
little  Goshen  where  all  true  light  is  found : 
darkness  blacker  than  that  of  Egypt  covers 
*he  whole  world  without. 


14  THE    SENSE    IS, 


MAXIM  III. 


TJie  sense  of  Scripture  is  {i?i  general) 
ONE  :  in  other  words,  ive  are  not  to  assign 
many  meanings  to  a  passage.  Words  indeed 
have  a  variety  of  significations  ;  but  they 
cannot  have  this  variety  at  the  same  time. 
A  single  sense  must  be  chosen,  in  doing 
which,  one  expositor  may  differ  from  another, 
and  it  may  be  dubious  which  is  right.  They 
cannot,  however,  be  hoth  right.  If  we  ap- 
prove the  one,  we  must,  if  they  really  differ, 
disapprove  the  other. 

The  transgressors  of  this  rule,  are  the  Mys- 
tics and  Allegorists.  Their  fundamental  max- 
im is  not  unlike  that  of  the  Papists  ;  for  they 
consider  the  Bible  to  be  a  book  so  different 
from  others,  that  its  depth  of  meaning  can 
never  be  reached  by  the  ordinary  laws  of  in- 
terpretation. Being  from  God,  they  insist 
that  it  must  in  all  respects  be  worthy  of  him, 
and  contain  a  richness  of  thought  suited  to 
his  infinite  understanding.  Hence  their  fa- 
vourite maxim;  Verha  Scripturce  tantum  ubi- 
que  signijicare,  quantum  signijicare  possunt : 


IN    GENERAL,   OUe.  15 

i.  e.  whatever  a  word  7nay  mean,  it  does  mean. 
A  single  noun  could  thus  have  twenty  differ- 
ent senses  in  the  same  place,  and  refer  to 
twenty  different  things.  This  odd  theory 
was  a  great  favourite  with  the  Jews  in  the 
time  of  our  Lord  and  his  apostles,  who  oc- 
casionally allegorized  to  please  them,  though 
by  no  means  frequently.  See  an  instance  in 
Oal.  iv.  22  ;  where  the  Apostle  makes  Sarah 
and  Hagar  types  of  the  two  covenants.  So 
far  did  the  Jews  carry  their  love  of  it, 
that  their  rabbles  all  maintained — "  There  is 
not  a  letter  in  Scripture,  or  apex  of  a  letter, 
which  does  not  contain  wdiole  mountains  of 
meaning."  They  even  had  a  science  or  art 
called  the  Caballa,  which  by  changing,  dis- 
joining, or  transposing  letters,  or  by  calcula- 
ting their  value  as  arithmetical  signs,  elicited 
worlds  of  profound  mystery  ! 

The  Jews  communicated  their  mania  to  the 
old  Christian  Fathers,  whose  writings  abound 
in  mystical  expositions  of  all  kinds.  Every 
thing  in  sacred  history,  was  metamorphosed 
into  type  and  symbol.  Origen  denied  even 
the  literal  truth  of  history,  contending  that 


16  THE   SENSE   IS, 

its  whole  and  only  meaning  was  allegorical. 
Thus  he  pronounced  it  absolutely  absurd  to 
suppose,  that  the  world  was  created  in  six 
days.  The  creation  signified  the  renovation 
of  the  soul  by  the  gospel,  and  the  six  days, 
intimate  that  it  is  carried  on  by  degrees. 
Israel  in  Egypt,  he  makes  to  be  the  soul  liv- 
ing in  error ;  and  the  seven  plagues  are  its 
purgations  from  various  evil  habits — the  frogs 
deneting  loquacity,  the  flies  carnal  appetites, 
the  boils  pride  and  arrogance,  &c.  This 
mode  of  expounding  continued  through  the 
different  ages  of  the  church,  and  has  been 
formally  adopted  by  the  Papists,  who  recog- 
nize three  different  senses  besides  the  literal, 
viz.  the  allegorical,  tropological,  and  ana- 
gogical.  Nor  was  it  put  down  by  the  re- 
formation, Cocceius,  a  celebrated  Dutch  di- 
vine, carried  it  almost  as  far  as  Origen  did. 
He  held  that  the  whole  of  the  Old  Testament 
was  an  anticipative  history  of  the  Christian 
church,  containing  a  full  recital  of  every  thing 
which  should  happen  to  the  end  of  time. — 
Even  the  Lord's  Prayer  was  a  prophesy,  and 
its  six  parts  denoted  six  great  epochs  in  his- 


IN   GENERAL,   OUe,  17 

tory.  Every  good  man  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, was  a  t)^pe  of  Christ,  or  his  apostles  : 
Every  bad  man,  of  the  devil,  or  the  unbe- 
lieving Jews. 

Such  schemes  are  to  be  utterly  rejected. 
They  destroy  all  certainty  of  interpretation. 
They  take  the  ground  from  beneath  our  feet ; 
and  make  scripture  a  nose  of  wax  which  ev- 
ery one  may  twist  into  the  shape  that  pleases 
him  best.  Thomas  Woolston,  a  celebrated 
English  infidel,  attacked  Christianity  itself 
with  these  arms,  insisting  that  the  narratives 
of  Christ's  miracles  were  not  designed  to  be 
histories,  but  are  pure  allegories.  Volney,  a 
French  writer,  has  turned  the  evangelic  histo- 
ry into  a  system  of  astronomy — Christ  being 
the  sun  and  moon,  and  the  twelve  apostles 
the  twelve  signs  of  the  zodiac.  Without 
affirming  that  there  are  no  secondary  senses 
in  scripture,  we  believe  that  (tlie  phrase  being 
properly  understood)  there  are  very  few. — 
Generally,  the  meaning  is,  as  in  other  books, 
one ;  and  that,  lies  near  the  surface.  Who 
ever  heard  of  a  man  in  common  conversation, 
attaching  different  significations  to  the  words 
2* 


18  SUITABLE   PREPARATION. 

he  used — unless  indeed  he  was  playing  a 
game  at  riddles,  or  double  ent^endres  ? 


MAXIM  IV. 

The  interpretation  of  Scripture  requires 
suitable  preparation.  The  languages  in 
which  it  is  written,  are  strange — difficult ; 
and  both  are  dead.  In  every  page,  there  are 
references  to  times,  places,  transactions,  with 
which  we  must  be  well  acquainted.  The 
history  of  the  world  is  given,  with  a  few 
breaks  and  interruptions,  from  the  beginning 
to  the  four  thousandth  year.  Not  only  are 
there  accounts  of  the  Hebrew  nation,  but  of 
many  others  with  whom  'var  or  peaceful  in- 
tercourse brought  them  in  connection  ;  Syri- 
ans, Egyptians,  Assyrians,  Persians,  Greeks, 
Romans  :  cities,  lakes,  rivers,  hills,  valleys, 
are  continually  mentioned.  So  are  natu- 
ral productions — as  plants,  trees,  precious 
stones,  animals.  Hence  arises  the  necessity 
of  being  well  acquainted  with — 

1st.  Hebrew  and  Greek  :  and  also  the  cog- 
nate languages,  Chaldee  and  Latin. 


SUITABLE   PREPARATION.  19 

2d.  History,  civil  and  political ;  especially 
of  the  Israelites,  Egyptians,  Phoenicians,  As- 
syrians, and  Greeks.  If  the  student  has  no 
time  for  extensive  investigation,  he  should  at 
least  make  himself  master  of  Josephus  and 
Prideaux,  who  are  accessible  to  all,  and  full 
of  entertainment  as  well  as  instruction. 

3d.  Chronology ;  which  ascertains  the 
dates  and  order  of  events.  There  is  great 
uncertainty  and  difficulty  in  this  science,  but 
it  must  not  be  neglected.  A  general  know- 
ledge of  its  principles,  and  a  clear  view  of 
the  great  epochs  into  which  sacred  and  pro- 
fane history  is  divided,  with  an  ability  to  re- 
fer every  important  transaction  to  its  proper 
time,  is  indispensable.  Chronology  is  one 
of  the  eyes  of  history.     The  other  is  — 

4th.  Geography.  That  of  Palestine  is  of 
special  moment,  for  obvious  reasons.  But 
that  of  Egypt,  Idumea,  Arabia,  and  Mesopo- 
tamia, m.ust  not  be  passed  by. 

5th.  Customs  and  manners,  or  archaiolo- 
gy.  These  exercise  a  mighty  influence  on 
the  ideas  of  a  people,  and  their  mode  of  ex- 
pressing them.      There   is  in  scripture,  a 


20  SUITABLE  PREPARATION. 

constant  allusion  to  Hebrew  usages,  and  near- 
ly all  its  tropes  are  borrowed  from  them,  in 
connection  with  the  natural  features  of  the 
country. 

6th.  Logic  and  general  literature ;  which 
invigorate  the  mind,  and  inure  to  habits  of 
accurate  discrimination.  Every  study  that 
improves  the  thinking  faculties — especially 
the  judgment,  and  enlarges  our  mental  hori- 
zon, will  make  its  value  felt  in  explaining  the 
word  of  God.  What  blunders  have  been 
committed  by  commentators,  simply  because 
they  did  not  know  that  they  were  reading  poe- 
try ;  and  who  would  not  have  been  benefit- 
ted by  the  discovery,  as  they  knew  nothing 
of  the  laws  of  that  kind  of  composition — 
their  whole  reading  having  been  confined  to 
the  mellifluous  jingle  of  Dr.  Watts  !  The 
remark  of  Cicero  concerning  the  orator,  is 
tjuite  as  true  of  the  sacred  interpreter: — 
■'*  Quod  debet  omnibus  disciplinis  instructus 
esse."  Let  no  student  of  theology  allow 
himself  to  think,  that  when  he  occasionally, 
or  -even  frequently,  opens  the  page  of  a  Mil- 


USUS   LOQUENDI.  21 

ton  or  a  Locke,  he  is  wasting  time,  or  steal- 
ing it  away  from  his  proper  work. 

We  proceed  to  the  Special  Rules  which 
should  guide  us  in  the  interpretation  of  Scrip- 
ture. 


RULE  L 


Carefully  investigate  the  Usics  loquendi. 
By  this  is  meant  what  the  words  literally  ex- 
press, the  custom  of  speech.  The  mean- 
ing of  words  is  for  the  most  part  perfectly 
arbitrary.  They  call  up  certain  ideas,  be- 
cause men  have  agreed  that  they  shall  do  so, 
and  for  no  other  reason.  General  usage, 
therefore,  is  the  great  standard,  "  quem  penes 
arbitrium  est  et  jus  et  norma  dicendi."  In 
living  languages,  we  ascertain  the  usage  from 
conversation  and  personal  intercourse.  In 
those  long  since  dead,  as  the  Hebrew  and 
Greek,  we  draw  on  various  sources  : 

1st.  Contemporary  writers.  With  respect 
to  the  Old  Testament,  we  have  none  such — 
all  the  Hebrew  extant  being  contained  in  our 


22  USUS   LOQUENDI. 

volume.  In  place  of  them,  we  have  a  tole- 
rably clear  and  ample  Jewish  tradition.  It 
cannot  be  doubled,  that  the  rabbles  have 
preserved  with  good  fidelity  much  of  their 
old  national  language.  As  to  the  New  Tes- 
tament, we  have  all  the  Greek  writers  from 
Homer  to  Longinus  ;  though  they  must  be 
used  with  caution,  as  the  New  Testament  is 
written  in  a  Hebraistic  idiom,  and  not  in  the 
classical  language  of  Demosthenes. 

2d.  Scholiasts  and  glossographers.  These 
were  men  Avho  lived  after  the  death  of  the 
writers  ;  but  while  the  language  was  still  liv- 
ing, and  who  must  have  understood  the  mean- 
ing of  words  better  than  we.  Scholia  were 
short  notes  inserted  in  the  margin  of  the  work 
explained,  illustrating  some  phrase  or  turn  of 
expression.  Scholia  on  the  New  Testament 
are  very  numerous,  and  some  of  them  have 
come  down  from  remote  antiquity.  A  noble 
edition  of  the  New  Testament,  containing  a 
large  collection  of  them,  has  been  published 
by  Matthai,  a  distinguished  German  profes- 
sor. Glossaries  (from  yXoiTtrct  a  form  of 
speech)  are   dictionaries,  containing  explan- 


USUS  LOQUENDI.  23 

aliens  of  certain  words  arranged  in  alpha- 
betical order.  They  differ  from  common 
dictionaries,  in  containing  remarks  on  such 
words  only  as  are  difficult  and  obscure.  The 
principal  works  of  this  kind  are  those  of 
Hesychius,  Suidas,  Phavorinus,  andPhotius. 
3d.  Ancient  translations,  made  when  the 
languages  were  still  living.  Such  is  the  Sep- 
tuagint  version  of  the  Hebrew  Bible,  made 
nearly  three  hundred  years  before  Christ ; 
when  the  language  was  well  understood, 
though  not  spoken  with  perfect  purity.  The 
value  of  this  work  to  the  student  of  the  New 
Testament,  as  well  as  the  Old,  is  incalcula- 
ble. Without  the  steady  light  which  is  cast 
by  it  on  the  meaning  and  force  of  expressions, 
the  interpreter  could  scarcely  advance  a  step. 
The  Chaldee  paraphrase,  is  another  venera- 
ble translation  of  the  Old  Testament.  It  pre- 
sents the  views  concerning  the  meaning  of 
that  part  of  scripture,  entertained  by  the 
learned  Jews  contemporary  with  our  Lord. 
It  was  composed  a  little  before  his  birth,  and 
in  the  dialect  spoken  at  that  time  by  the  na- 


24  USUS   LOQUENDI. 

tion.  The  old  Syriac  version  is  also  ex- 
tremely valuable. 

4th.  Kindred  dialects.  This  source  of 
aid  is  peculiarly  useful  wdth  respect  to  that 
part  of  scripture  which  most  needs  it — the 
Old  Testament.  The  Hebrew  has  three  sis- 
ters, so  like  her,  that  there  can  be  no  mistake 
as  to  their  common  parentage.  They  are 
the  Arabic,  Chaldaic  or  East  Aramaean, 
Syriac  or  West  Aramaean.  In  two  of  these 
— the  Syriac  and  Arabic — there  are  numerous 
writings  still  extant,  and  the  Arabic  is  a  liv- 
ing language.  The  use  of  dialects  in  deter- 
mining the  sense  of  words,  requires  skill  and 
judgment ;  as  it  by  no  means  follows  that  the 
precise  signification  is  the  same  in  both,  be- 
cause they  are  sisters.  Yet  its  great  value  as 
a  subsidiary,  is  general^  confessed.  Proofs 
of  it  you  have  in  every  page  of  Gesenius's 
dictionary. 

5th.  Etymology ;  or  the  examination  of 
roots.  When  other  expedients  fail,  we  may 
sometimes  derive  considerable  assistance  from 
tracing  an  expression  to  its  original  element. 
But  after  all,  etymology  is    slippery  ground. 


USUS    LOQUENDI.  25 

Words  in  the  process  of  derivation  or  compo- 
sition, often  deviate  from  their  original  im- 
port, so  that  the  child  loses  nearly  all  resem- 
blance to  its  parent.  Thus  the  English  word 
villain,  in  our  old  writers  means  a  slave  ; 
rascal,  in  Saxon,  a  lean  beast ;  hostis,  in 
Latin,  originally  signified  (according  to  Cice- 
ro) a  stranger ;  pagan,  which  with  us  is 
equivalent  to  heathen,  denoted  nothing  worse 
in  the  language  last  mentioned  from  which 
we  obtained  it,  than  a  farmer  or  inhabitant 
of  the  country.  tJI.P  ^^  "^  Hebrew  verb  sig- 
nifying to  he  holy ;  the  noun  "^^Ip,  one  of 
its  derivatives,  is  the  common  term  for  pros- 
titute. Two  instances  may  be  given  from 
the  New  Testament  to  illustrate  the  danger 
of  reasoning  from  etymological  significations. 
The  verb  Trpoynary.a  is  compounded  of  the 
the  preposition  t/jo,  before,  and  yauTKu^  to 
Jcnoiv.  It  should  therefore  always  denote 
simple  foreknowledge,  and  many  Arminians 
contend  that  it  does  so  ;  yet  whoever  impar- 
tially examines  the  usus  loquendi  of  the  New 
Testament,  will  see  at  once,  that  it  is  some- 
times fully  equal  in  strength  of  meaning  to 
3 


26  USUS    LOQUENDI. 

our  English  word  foreordain  :  see  Rom.  ii. 
2,  Acts  ii.  23,  1  Pet.  i.  20.  The  adjective 
utuno^^  is  commonly  used  by  the  Greeks  for 
"  eternal"  or  "  everlasting,"  and  is  the  strong- 
est term  they  can  employ.  In  this  sense  it 
is  constantly  used  in  the  New  Testament, 
with  perhaps  one  or  two  exceptions.  But  the 
Universalist  reminds  us,  that  it  comes  from 
ccio)v  an  age,  and  mubt  therefore  be  translated 
"  having  age'^  or  *'  enduring  for  an  ageT 
So  too  ctimi<i  ccimm  can  mean  nothing  more 
than  a  "  number  of  ages,"  though  in  every 
case,  without  a  solitary  exception,  it  expresses 
proper  eternity. 

Nothing  can  be  more  unsafe  than  such 
modes  of  procedure.  The  use  of  words  is  con- 
tinually fluctuating,  and  we  cannot  be  too  care- 
ful in  guarding  against  errors  from  this  source. 
Yet  they  are  common.  Whole  systems  of 
theology,  and  even  natural  science,  have 
been  constructed  on  fanciful  etymologies,  by 
men  whose  imaginations  outran  their  judg- 
ment, of  which  we  may  cite  Parkhurst's  He- 
brew and  Greek  lexicons  as  an  example. 
Great  aid,  however,  may  be  derived  from  a 


PARALLEL    PASSAGES.  27 

sober  and  skilful  tracing  of  words  back  to 
their  source.  If  it  does  not  always  direct  to 
their  present  meaning,  it  seldom  fails  to  throw 
a  happy  light  on  the  history  of  language. 

These  are  the  principal  means  of  obtaining 
the  "  Usus  Loquendi."  It  would  be  cruel, 
however,  to  impose  upon  all,  the  task  of  dig- 
ging into  these  deep  mines.  The  labour  is 
in  a  measure  saved  by  good  dictionaries, 
which,  if  really  good,  contain  the  results  of 
such  investigations.  Happily  we  are  well 
supplied  with  Gesenius  in  Hebrew,  and  Wahl 
and  Bretschneider  in  Greek.  Professor  Ro- 
binson's Lexicon  is  also  excellent. 


RULE    II. 

Examine  carefully  the  parallel  passages. 
By  these  are  meant,  texts  which  relate  to 
the  same  subject,  teach  the  same  doctrine, 
or  relate  the  same  historical  fact.  They 
should  be  accurately  collatedj  that  one  may 
supply  light  to  the  other,  and  fill  up  what  is 
wanting  to  the  perspicuity  of  the  whole.    We 


2S  PARALLEL    PASSAGES. 

perform  this  operation  constantly — in  reading 
the  most  familiar  letter,  or  the  simplest  stor}^ 
Its  value  in  the  study  and  explanation  of 
scripture,  can  hardly  be  expressed.  It  not 
only  enables  us  to  enter  into  the  meaning  and 
force  of  particular  expressions,  but  places  us 
on  a  commanding  eminence,  where  we  may 
survey  the  whole  field  of  divine  truth,  and 
admire  the  harmony  of  its  several  parts.  All 
S3^stematic  theology  should  be  built  on  this 
alone.  "  I  will  not  scruple  to  assert,"  says 
the  learned  Bishop  Horsley,  "  that  the  most 
illiterate  Christian,  if  he  can  but  read  his 
English  Bible,  and  will  take  the  pains  to  read 
it  in  this  manner,  (studying  the  parallel  pas- 
sages) without  any  other  commentary  than 
what  the  different  parts  mutually  furnish  for 
each  other,  wmII  not  only  attain  all  that 
practical  knowledge  which  is  necessary  to 
salvation,  but  will  become  learned  in  every 
thing  relating  to  his  religion.  He  may  safely 
be  ignorant  of  all  philosophy,  and  all  his- 
tory, which  he  does  not  find  in  the  sacred 
books." 

Parallels    arc  of  two  kinds,   Vcrhal,    and 


PARALLEL    PASSAGES.  29 

Real ;  Verbal,  are  those  in  which  the  very 
same  word  or  phrase  is  used,  though  the 
meaning  in  one  may  be  much  clearer  than  in 
the  other,  and  consequently  give  light  to  it. 
Thus  in  Joel  ii.  28,  God  promises  that  he 
"  will  pour  out  his  Spirit  on  all  flesh."  Doubt- 
ful how  to  understaiid  "  flesh"  in  this  pas- 
sage, I  compare  it  with  Gen.  vi.  12,  which 
says  that  "  all  flesh  corrupted  their  way." 
As  the  whole  mass  of  mankind  is  here  meant, 
I  feel  authorised  to  give  the  same  extent  of 
meaning  to  the  word  in  Joel.  In  Matt.  i. 
20,  the  angel  of  the  Lord  declares  that  Mary 
shall  "  conceive  of  the  Holy  Ghost."  Struck 
with  the  peculiarity  of  the  expression,  I  go 
to  the  corresponding  passage  in  Luke,  and 
find  him  using  it  also,  but  adding  another 
which  is  evidently  intended  to  be  exegetical, 
viz.  "  Power  of  the  Highest,"  Luke  i.  35, 
The  Holy  Ghost  therefore  is  here  equivalent 
to  the  Divine  energy.  In  1.  Cor.  vii.  1,  Paul 
says  "  It  is  not  good  for  a  man  to  marry."  A 
little  startled  at  this  squinting  of  the  great 
apostle  towards  monkery,  I  look  further 
down  the  chapter  for  an  explanation,  and 
3* 


30  PARALLEL    TASSAGES. 

lind  it  in  the  26th  verse  ;  "  It  is  good  for  the 
present  distress."  Marriage  is  an  excellent 
thing,  but  may  be  very  inexpedient  in  times 
of  severe  persecution. 

Ileal  parallelism  is  a  correspondence  in 
the  thought  or  subject,  although  the  words 
are  different ;  and  is  still  more  important 
than  the  other.  It  is  two-fold,  historical  and 
doctrinal.  Historical  parallelisms  are  those 
which  occur  in  the  relation  of  matters  of  fact. 
The  four  gospels  are  full  of  these,  and  a 
careful  collation  of  them  is  of  unspeakable 
use  in  interpretation.  One  evangelist  fills 
up  the  outlines  briefl}?"  sketched  by  another, 
supplying  some  circumstance  of  time,  place, 
or  occasion,  which  throw  a  flood  of  light  on 
the  whole  transaction.  From  a  diligent  and 
minute  comparison  of  their  accounts,  Har- 
monies are  constructed,  which  deserve  to  be 
well  studied.  There  are  similar  coincidences 
in  the  Old  Testament,  ex.gr.  between  the 
books  of  Chronicles  and  Kings. 

Parallelism  of  doctrine  is  found,  where 
the  same  principles  are  taught  in  two  or 
more  passages.     The   great  business  of  the 


PARALLEL    PASSAGES.  31 

didactic  theologian  is  to  investigate  this 
class  of  correspondencies.  iVll  sound  know- 
ledge of  Christian  doctrines,  depends  on  the 
faithful  and  judicious  comparison  of  scrip- 
ture with  scripture.  Does  the  student  want 
clear  views  concerning  man's  relations  to  his 
Creator,  original  corruption,  the  person  and 
work  of  the  Redeemer,  justification,  the 
connection  between  it  and  the  renewal  of  the 
soul  in  holiness,  the  happiness  and  misery 
of  a  future  state — his  course  is  plain  and 
easy.  He  must  find  the  great  classical  pas- 
sages on  each  point,  and  bring  them  in  juxta- 
position :  he  must  compare  (asking  no  other 
assistance  but  God's  grace  and  a  good 
dictionary,)  Isaiah  with  Matthew,  Paul  to  the 
Romans  with  Paul  to  the  Galatians,  and  both 
these  with  James — the  author  of  the  Apoca- 
lypse with  Daniel  and  Ezekiel,  the  Epistle 
to  the  Hebrews  with  Genesis  and  Leviticus. 
Let  him  do  this  in  the  fear  of  the  Lord,  with 
a  single  desire  to  know  the  truth  ;  he  will  not 
probably  come  from  his  labour  a  hair  spht- 
ting  metaphysician  or  cunning  rhetorician — 
buthe  will  prove  something  more  and  better, 


32  PARALLEL    PASSAGES. 

"  a  good   steward   of  the  manifold  grace  of 
God." 

Besides  the  coincidences  above  mentioned, 
there  is  in  scripture  what  is  called  the  poetic 
j^arallelism,  with  which  every  reader  of  He- 
brew is  acquainted.  It  consists  in  a  mutual 
correspondence  of  the  two  members  of  a 
stanza ;  the  one  being  a  sort  of  echo  to  the 
other,  as  in  Isaiah  i.  3. 

The  ox  knoweth  his  owner, 
The  ass  his  master's  crib, 
Israel  does  not  know, 
My  people  do  not  consider. 

Sometimes  the  answering  clause  is  synony- 
mous with  the  first,  as  in  the  example  just 
cited. 

Sometimes  antithetical,  or  opposed  to  it, 
as  in  Prov.  xii.  1. 

A  wise  son  makes  a  glad  father, 

But  a  foolish  son  is  the  grief  of  his  mother. 

At  others  it  contains  only  a  farther  deve- 
lopmcnt  of  the  thought,  as  in  Psal.  cxlviii.  7. 

Praise  the  Lord  upon  the  earth, 

Ye  dragons  and  all  deeps  ; 

Fire  and  hail  :  snow  and  vapour ; 


SCOPE.  33 

Stormy  wind  ;  fulfilling  his  will  : 
Mountains  and  all  hills  ; 
Fruit  trees  and  all  cedars. 

These  parallelisms  are  of  excellent  use  to 
the  interpreter.  They  often  enable  him  to 
decide  important  questions  concerning  the 
meaning  of  words  and  propositions,  when 
deserted  by  all  other  hermeneutical  aids. 
Nor  is  their  use  confined  to  the  Old  Testa- 
ment. The  same  rythmical  construction 
everywhere  prevails  in  the  New,  which  in 
this,  as  in  many  other  respects,  has  received 
a  decided  tinge  from  the  Hebrew  writings. 
On  this  whole  subject  we  earnestly  recom- 
mend to  the  student,  Bishop  Lowth's  Lec- 
tures on  Hebrew  Poetr}^,  a  book  almost 
worthy  of  its  theme. 


RULE    HL 

The  consideration  of  the  cmthor'^s  scope 
or  design  greatly  facilitates  interpretation. 
Every  man  (not  a  fool),  has  some  definite 
purpose  in  speaking,  and  it  is  fairly  presum 


34  SCOPE. 

ed  that  he  will  use  such  terms  and  arguments 
as  are  suited  to  it.  The  scope  is  the  soul — 
the  vis  vitae  of  a  work,  which  lives  and 
breathes  through  the  whole,  giving  order, 
force  and  beauty  to  every  part.  It  may  be 
ascertained  in  various  ways. 

1.  By  marking  the  occasion  on  which  the 
passage  or  hook  was  loritten.  Thus  the 
occasion  of  Paul's  epistle  to  the  Galatians, 
was  the  dissemination  among  them  of  Jew- 
ish errors  concerning  the  way  of  justifica- 
tion. He  "  marvels  that  they  were  so  soon 
removed  from  him  that  called  them  into  the 
grace  of  the  gospel."  The  epistle  to  tlie 
Romans  had  a  like  origin.  The  inscriptions 
on  many  of  the  Psalms,  describing  the  con- 
dition of  the  poet  when  they  were  composed, 
give  them  wonderful  vivacity  and  impressive- 
ness  :  we  almost  seem  to  be  reading  differ- 
ent compositions.  Take  for  example  the  third 
Psalm,  and  in  reading  it,  set  before  you  the 
pious  monarch  driven  from  his  throne  by  the 
machinations  of  an  unnatural  son,  and  wan- 
dering among  the  hills  of  Gilcad,  wanting 
the  very  necessaries  of  life,    and  in  constant 


SCOPE.  35 

clanger  from  enemies  who  were  thirsting  for 
his  blood  ;  yet  expressing  his  perfect  confi- 
dence that  all  would  be  well  at  last,  what- 
ever temporary  triumph  might  be  allowed 
them.  How  thrilling  every  expression  of 
his  victorious  faith  in  the  power  and  promise 
of  God  under  such  circumstances  !  It  ap- 
pears that  the  serene  old  man  did  not  lose  a 
night's  rest  in  the  darkest  period  of  his  trial : 

I  lay  me  down  and  sleep, 
I  awake  for  Jehovah  sustains  me, 
I  fear  not  ten  thousands  of  people, 
Who  set  themselves  round  about  me. 

The  discourses  of  Christ  receive  hke  illus- 
trations from  adverting  to  the  occasion  of 
them.  Many  were  answers  to  the  cavils  and 
impertinencies  of  the  Pharisees :  some  were 
connected  with  occurrences  which  took  place 
in  his  presence  :  others  were  suggested  by 
questions  of  his  disciples.  How  much  we 
should  lose  of  the  meaning  and  beauty  of  his 
conversation  with  the  Samaritan  woman,  if 
we  separated  it  from  the  little  introductory 
circumstances  which  are  recorded  ;  viz.  that 
the  place  was  "  Sychar,"  the  chief  city  of 


36  SCOPE. 

the  most  biltcr  enemies  of  liis  nation  ;  that 
"Jacob's  well"  was  there  ;  that  weary  with 
journeying  he  sat  upon  its  mouth  waiting  the 
return  of  his  disciples  "  who  had  gone  into 
the  city  to  buy  meat ;"  that  he  excited  her  as- 
tonishment by  asking  drink  of  her,  "  for  the 
Jews  have  no  dealings  with  the  Samaritans." 
Every  one  of  these  apparently  trifling  inci- 
dents has  its  use  in  illustratinir  what  follows. 
Not  one  could  be  spared,  without  detracting 
from  a  composition  which  measured  by  a 
standard  merely  literary,  has  nothing  to  com- 
pare with  it  in  all  the  ancient  and  modern 
classics. 

2.  By  examining  ivlietlier  the  icriter  has 
not  himself  mentioned  his  design.  Thus 
the  Evangelist  John  informs  us,  what  his 
purpose  was  in  writing  his  gospel,  John  xx. 
31.  *'  These  things  are  written  that  ye  might 
believe  upon  Jesus,  and  that  believing  ye 
might  have  life  through  his  name."  Luke 
avows  his  design  very  clearly.  He  seems  to 
have  been  dissatisfied  with  some  of  the  cur- 
rent accounts  which  had  been  published  of 
the  life  of  Christ,  and  determines  to  give  an 


SCOPE.  37 

accurate  and  orderly  detail,  the  result  of  his 
own  personal  investigations.  As  he  intimates 
his  purpose  to  write  x-ci^ef;;?,  i.  e.  "in  order" — 
having  carefully  followed  up  every  event, 
*'  ^xptiKoXovdriKori  etvahv  uKptjia^^  j  many  judi" 
cious  commentators  infer  that  where  the 
evangelists  differ  as  to  the  order  of  facts, 
his  account  is  to  be  preferred,  and  have  ac- 
cordingly made  it  the  basis  of  their  schemes 
of  harmony.  The  author  cf  Ecclesiastes 
is  another  instance  of  a  sacred  writer  w^ho 
states  his  object.  The  whole  work  is  a 
commentary  on  the  first  verse,  "  Vanity  of 
vanities  saith  the  preacher  ;  all  is  vanity." 
It  must  be  confessed  that  he  sticks  to  his 
melancholy  text  most  closely,  and  expounds 
it  with  a  fearful  energy. 

Occasionally  a  sacred  writer  gives  his  pur- 
pose not  at  the  outset,  but  the  close  of  his 
remarks.  A  striking  instance  is  found  in 
Paul's  epistle  to  the  Romans.  In  the  first 
three  chapters,  he  elaborately  reviews  the 
moral  condition  of  mankind  both  Jews  and 
Gentiles,  in  all  ages,  and  shows  that  the 
whole  world  was  guilty  before  God.  In  the 
4 


38  SCOPE. 

20th  verse  of  the  third  chapter,  we  see  him 
distinctly  approaching  his  object :  "  There- 
fore by  the  deeds  of  the  law  shall  no  flesh  be 
justified  in  his  sight  ;  for  by  the  law  is  the 
knowledge  of  sin."  This  was  one  point 
gained,  and  one  of  momentous  interest  to  a 
mind  anxiously  inquiring,  "  How  shall  man 
be  just  with  God."  But  he  had  a  much  high- 
er aim  than  merely  to  prostrate  the  sinner. 
He  kills  that  he  may  make  alive  ;  and  after 
an  eloquent  discussion  through  the  seven 
verses  that  follow,  brings  out  in  the  28th  the 
great  central  truth  of  the  gospel  with  dia- 
lectic formality,  "  Therefore  we  conclude 
that  a  man  is  justified  by  faith  without  the 
deeds  of  the  law." 

3dly.  If  both  the  expedients  mentioned 
fail,  we  should  read  the  ivhole  book,  marking 
the  coherence  of  its  various  parts.  Mr. 
Locke  recommends  the  perusal  of  it  at  one 
sitting,  quoting  his  own  experience  in  favour 
of  the  plan.  "  I  concluded  it  necessary,"  he 
says,  (speaking  of  Paul's  epistles),  "for  the 
understanding  of  any  one  of  them,  often  to  read 
it  all  through  at  one  sitting,  and  to  observe  as 


CONTEXT.  39 

well  as  I  could  the  design  of  bis  writing  it. 
If  the  first  reading  gave  me  some  light,  the  se- 
cond gave  me  more  ;  and  so  I  persisted  on, 
reading  constantly  the  whole  epistle  over  at 
once,  till  I  came  to  have  a  good  general  view 
of  the  apostle's   main  purpose  in  writing." 
The   advice  is    excellent.       It  is  the  very 
method  we  employ  in  ascertaining  the  scope 
of  other  writings.     If  the   title   page  leave 
any  doubt  or  darkness  on  the   subject,   we 
instinctively  turn  to  the  table  of  contents,  or 
skim  over  the  different  chapters,  before  we 
engage  in  a  critical  perusal.     We  thus  catch 
the  author's  drift — we  see  what  he  would  he 
at — without  some  knowledge  of  which,  read- 
inir  is  the  most  intolerable  of  all  drudgery. 


RULE    IV. 

Examine  loell  loliat  p-ecedes  and  folloivs 
the  part  to  he  expounded.  This  is  called  the 
context ;  and  is  divided  into  the  remote  and 
immediate.  The  immediate,  is  that  part 
which  stands  in  immediate  proximity  to  the 


40  CONTEXT. 

passage  ;  the  remote,  may  extend  some 
distance  backward  and  forward.  The  mind 
generahy  thinks  in  train,  and  connects  its 
ideas  together  b}^  well-known  laws  of  asso- 
ciation. This  connection  of  thought,  and  the 
logical  relation  of  one  part  of  the  series  to 
another,  is  an  invaluable  key  to  the  mind  of 
a  writer,  except  when  he  professedly  deals 
in  aphorisms  ;  as  the  author  of  the  book  of 
Proverbs,  and  Christ  in  part  of  his  sermon 
on  the  mount.  It  is  in  some  respects  more 
important  than  the  scope  :  the  latter  only 
gives  me  the  author's  general  purpose,  which 
does  not  forbid  the  admission  of  episodes,  and 
topics  merely  collateral  :  We  shall  be  certain 
lo  err  with  regard  to  these,  if  we  negleci  the 
connection. 

We  must  be  on  our  guard,  however,  against 
manufacturing  a  connection  ;  in  other  words 
against  putting  a  false  construction  on  what 
precedes  or  follows,  and  then  moulding  the 
exposition  in  conformity  with  our  own  gloss, 
a  fault  often  committed.  Falsehood  can  only 
beget  falsehood.  Nor,  supposing  that  our 
construction  is  true,  may  we  adjust  our  pas- 


CONTEXT.  41 

sage  to  it  by  any  violation  of  the  Usus  Lo- 
quendi,  or  rules  of  grammar.  In  these  cases 
we  must  take  what  might  seem  the  worst  of 
two  meanings — sacrificing  contextual  sym- 
metry to  the  general  laws  of  language.  Thus 
limited,  the  rule  that  no  explanation  is  to  be 
admitted  which  does  not  suit  the  context,  is 
of  constant  use. 

Suppose  me  reading  the  42d  Psalm,  and 
considering  the  pathetic  exclamation  in  the 
second  verse  : 

My  soul  thirsteth  for  God,  the  living  God, 
When  shall  I  come  and  appear  before  God  ; 
My  tears  are  my  meat  day  and  night, 
While  it  is  said  continually,  Where  is  thy  God  ? 

My  first  impulse  is  to  view  it  as  the  ex- 
pression of  a  wish  to  die  and  enjoy  the  feli- 
city of  heaven ;  especially  as  the  phrase 
"  seeing  God,"  often  refers  to  future  blessed- 
ness. But  a  glance  at  the  4th  verse,  shows 
that  the  pious  monarch  longed  for  restoration 
to  the  services  of  the  earthly  sanctuary,  of 
which  he  had  been  deprived  by  the  persecu- 
tions of  his  son  Absalom  : 


42  CONTEXT. 

When  I  think  of  this,  I  pour  out  my  heart  in  tears, 
IIow  I  went  with  the  multitude — went  to  the  house 

of  God, 
With  jubilee  and  praise  in  a  sacred  happy  throng. 

The  llOth  Psalm  describes  the  victorious 
progress  of  an  illustrious  prince,  greatly  hon- 
oured by  God,  and  exalted  to  his  right  hand. 
The  first  three  verses  leave  me  in  doubt 
whether  the  poet  speaks  of  David  or  another 
and  far  greater  personage,  as  the  sitting  at 
God's  right  hand  may  be  figurative  : 

Jehovah  said  unto  my  Lord, 

Sit  thou  at  my  right  hand, 

Until  I  makb  thine  enemies  thy  footstool, 

'I'hy  powerful  sceptre  Jehovah  sends  out  of  Zion  : 

Rule  in  the  midst  of  thy  foes. 

But  the  4th  verse  settles  the  question  : 

Jehovah  hath  sworn  and  will  not  repent, 
Thou  art  an  everlasting  priest, 
Of  the  order  of  Melchisedech. 

David  was  no  priest,  nor  could  any  He- 
brew monarch  assume  tlie  office  without 
heaven-daring  profanity.  The  strange,  and 
(to  the  Jew)  astounding  phenomenon  of  a 
"  priest  upon  a  throne,"  directs  us  at  once  to 


CONTEXT.  43 

David's  Son  and  Lord.  The  application  of 
this  simple  test  will  enable  the  plainest  Chris- 
tian to  detect  the  Psalms  called  Messianic  at 
a  glance.  They  all  embody  in  their  repre- 
sentations such  remarkable  incidents  and 
traits  of  personal  character,  as  make  it  impos- 
sible to  apply  them  without  the  grossest  im- 
propriety to  any  but  the  great  anointed  of  the 
Father.  Let  the  2d,  16th,  22d,  45th,  and 
72d  be  brought  to  this  touchstone  ;  nothing 
but  arrant  infidelity  can  resist  the  force  of  the 
arcjument. 

It  may  admit  a  doubt,  whether  the  cele- 
brated description  in  Rom.  vii.  of  the  strug- 
gle between  the  "  flesh  and  the  spirit,"  refers 
to  the  true  Christian  or  the  unregenerate. 
There  are  some  expressions  in  it,  which  cer- 
tainly agree  best  with  the  latter  supposition. 
On  the  other  hand,  there  are  whole  sentences 
which  cannot  at  all  be  reconciled  with  this 
hypothesis,  and  compel  us  to  understand  the 
apostle  as  describing  the  exercises  of  the 
Christian.  In  the  18th  verse,  it  is  clearly 
imphed  that  the  person  described  possesses 
impulses  and  principles  superior  to  those  of 


44  CONTEXT. 

unrenewed  nature.  "  In  me,  that  is,  in  my 
flesh,  dwelleth  no  good  thing."  In  the  22d 
verse,  he  is  said  to  "  dehght  in  the  Law  of 
God  after  the  inner  man  ;"  and  in  the  25th, 
he  thanks  God  for  ''  his  dehverance  through 
Christ  Jesus."  Farther,  to  entirely  preclude 
the  supposition  that  this  deliverance  is  a  neiu 
state,  following,  and  not  contemporary  with 
the  struggle,  he  adds,  "  So  then  with  the 
mind  I  serve  the  Law  of  God  ;  but  with  the 
flesh  the  law  of  sin."  Surely  it  is  not  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  tenor  ;f  scripture,  as  an 
excellent  commentator  observes,  to  describe 
in  this  way  the  exercises  and  character  of 
unholy  men. 

Let  us  bring  to  the  contextual  touchstone 
another  passage — the  well-known  paragraph 
in  Romans  5th,  which  seems  to  assert  a  di- 
rect causal  connection,  between  Adam  and 
his  posterity.  "  By  one  man  sin  entered  into 
the  world,  ard  death  by  sin,  and  so  death 
passed  upon  all  men,  for  all  have  sinned  :" 
"  By  one  man's  offence  death  reigned  by 
one  :"  "  By  the  offence  of  one,  judgment 
came  upon  all  to  condemnation :"  "By  one 


CONTEXT.  45 

man's  disobedience  many  were  made  sin- 
ners." Pelagians  affirm  that  all  intended  by 
these  remarkable  statements  is,  that  Adam 
gave  the  first  example  of  sinning,  and  that 
somehow  his  posterity  walked  in  his  steps. 
They  compare  the  phraseology  with  expres- 
sions like  these  :  ''  By  Sir  Robert  Walpole, 
bribery  and  corruption  entered  the  British 
parliament :"  "  By  Lysander,  luxury  entered 
Sparta ;"  which,  according  to  them,  only 
mean  that  the  evils  mentioned  began  with 
these  persons.  Without  dwelling  on  the  vi- 
olence done  to  the  words  by  this  gloss,  or  the 
fact  that  their  own  phrases  clearly  denote  not 
only  a  chronological  but  ^  causal  connection, 
let  the  student  look  at  the  whole  series  of 
discourse  that  follows  ;  in  which  the  apostle, 
with  an  emphasis  and  accumulation  of  sy- 
nonymous expressions,  which  show  how  in- 
tently his  mind  was  working  with  the 
thought,  draws  a  parallel  between  Adam  and 
the  Redeemer.  If  he  does  not  mean  to  say 
that  there  was  a  similitude  between  them  in 
official  character  and  relations,  almost  perfect, 
there  is  no  meaning  in  language.     The  infer- 


46  CONTEXT. 

ence  is  irresistible.  Christ  was  not  the  first 
who  received  salvation,  but  is  the  immediate 
author  of  it.  In  the  same  sense  our  guilty- 
progenitor  is  the  immediate  author  of  sin  and 
misery  to  our  world. 

This  attempt  to  explain  away  the  plain 
meaning  of  scripture  is  sufficiently  gross. 
That  of  the  Socinians  to  evacuate  the  Epis- 
tle to  the  Hebrews  of  our  Redeemer's  priest- 
hood and  atonement,  is  yet  more  so.  The 
priesthood  of  Jesus,  they  say,  is  a  bold  fig- 
ure, merely  denoting  that  he  was  a  consecra- 
ted minister  of  God.  His  sacrifice  consisted 
in  the  virtuous  obedience  which  he  yielded, 
and  which  might  be  so  called,  not  properly, 
but  in  a  pretty^  fanciful  way — because  it  was 
crowned  with  a  death  of  martyrdom  !  The 
apostle  then,  through  six  mortal  chapters,  has 
been  hammering  at  a  rough,  uncouth  figure, 
and  the  result  of  all  his  learned  labour  is — ab- 
solutely nothing  !  Nowhere,  in  all  the  an- 
nals of  writing,  can  be  found  an  instance  to 
compare  with  it,  of  the  "  montes  parturiunt, 
nascetur  ridiculus  mus."  It  would  be  idle  to 
allege  the  context  against  such  expounders. 


CONTEXT.  47 

They  grant  evcr}^  i  ^  ing  we  say  concerning  its 
entire  and  perfect  iiarmony  with  the  doctrine 
of  vicarious  satisfaction.  All  they  ask  us  to 
allow  is,  that  thr;  whole  book  may  be  a  meta- 
phor run  mad.  We  would  rather  doubt  the 
sanity  of  some  of  its  expositors. 

These  examples  may  suffice  of  the  advan- 
tage derived  from  studying  the  context.  It 
is  unhappily  much  discouraged  and  impeded 
by  the  w^ay  in  which  our  modern  Bibles  are 
printed.  The  fracture  of  great  coherent 
masses  into  verses,  is  an  unhappy  arrange- 
ment. The  reader's  attention  is  almost  ne- 
cessarily carried  away  from  the  flow  and  cur- 
rent of  thought,  and  fixed  on  an  isolated  pro- 
position, whose  true  meaning  depends  upon 
something  not  distinctly  before  his  mind.  In 
consequence,  he  is  very  apt  to  treat  revelation 
as  an  immense  collection  of  proverbs  ;  and 
the  majority  of  common  readers  actually  so 
consider  it.  Nor  can  we  approve  the  prac- 
tice adopted  by  many  preachers,  of  running 
into  their  pulpits  with  a  single  sentence  or 
part  of  one,  which  they  make  their  exclusive 
subject ;  not  bestowing  on  the  connection  a 


48  CONTEXT. 

word  of  notice — unless  they  have  been  hur- 
ried in  their  preparations,  and  find  it  conve- 
nient to  talk  a  little  round  it,  in  an  extempore 
introduction.  What  would  we  think  if  we 
heard  any  other  book  prelected  on  in  this 
way  ;  a  treatise  on  medicine  for  instance,  or 
on  morals  ?  Or  wliat  would  we  think  of  a 
judge  expounding  in  this  way  a  legal  stat- 
ute ?  The  civil  law  has  laid  down  an  ex- 
press canon  on  the  subject,  with  some  tart- 
ness, as  if  indignant  at  the  idea  of  such  a 
practice  :  "  Turpe  est  de  lege  judicare,  tota 
lege  non  inspecta."  Ministers  are  often  heard 
to  chide  their  people  sharply,  for  the  careless 
and  unprofitable  way  in  which  they  read  the 
word  of  God.  Bui  they  would  do  well  to 
ask  whether  they  are  not  themselves  to  blame 
in  forming  them  to  such  Avretched  habits  of 
perusing  it.  When  his  Reverence  appears 
before  the  people  month  after  month,  without 
in  a  single  instance  perhaps,  explaining  the 
design,  coherence,  and  argument  of  a  para- 
graph containing  only  six  verses,  it  is  re- 
ally too  much   to  expect,  that  honest  John 


CONTEXT.  49 

will  spend  his  Sabbath  evenings  in  supplying 
the  pastor's  lack  of  service. 

The  same  evil  prevails  in  the  domain  of 
controversial  theology.  Many  allow^  them- 
selves to  be  captivated  with  the  mere  sound 
of  a  phrase.  It  seems  to  suit  their  purpose 
in  an  argument.  Incontinently  they  detach 
it  from  the  paragraph  to  which  it  belongs, 
dress  it  up  in  high-sounding  paraphrase,  and 
send  it  forth,  "  to  root  out,  pull  down  and  de- 
stroy" every  thing  that  opposes.  Examples 
without  number  could  be  given,  from  the  writ- 
ings of  all  religious  parties,  even  our  own. 
Many  passages  which  Calvinists  quote  are 
utterly  irrelevant,  as  the  slightest  examina- 
tion shows.  An  instance  of  this  is  the  cele- 
brated declaration  in  Jer.  xxxi.  3  :  "I  have 
loved  thee  with  everlasting  love,  therefore 
with  loving  kindness  have  I  drawn  thee."  It 
may  be  more  properly  translated  thus, 

In  days  of  old  have  I  loved  thee, 

Therefore  will  I  prolong  ray  goodness  to  thee. 

God  is  here  assuring  the  ten  tribes  of  delive- 
rance and  protection,  on  account  of  the  love 

he  bore  them  in  former  times,  when  with  out- 
5 


50  CONTEXT. 

Stretched  arm  he  brought  them  from  the  land 
of  Egypt.  Nothing  is  said  of  the  eternity  of 
his  purposes,  or  their  accomphshment  in  the 
conversion  of  the  elect.  If  applied  to  this 
subject,  it  must  be  in  the  way  of  pious  ac- 
commodation. The  same  is  true  of  another 
favourite  passage:  Matt.  xxii.  14,  "Many 
are  called,  but  few  are  chosen."  The  whole 
context  and  scope  shows,  that  the  Redeemer 
is  not  speaking  of  sovereign  election,  but 
rather  stating  the  fact,  that  while  all  are  invit- 
ed to  the  gospel  feast,  there  are  compara- 
tively few  admitted,  in  consequence  of  neg- 
lecting to  secure  the  necessary  qualifications. 

On  the  other  hand,  our  Arminian  brethren 
quote,  with  as  little  shadow  of  reason,  1  Cor. 
xii.  7,  to  prove  universal  grace.  The  pro- 
position that  "  a  dispensation  of  the  spirit  is 
given  to  every  man  to  profit  withal,"  sounds 
indeed  bravely.  But  the  sound  is  all  :  the 
whole  argument  shows  that  the  Apostle  is 
speaking  of  supernatural  gifts  of  the  spirit, 
and  is  addressing  church  members  exclu- 
sively» 

When  we  apply  our  Rule  to  interpretation, 


CONTEXT.  51 

some  caution  is  necessaiy,  in  consequence  of 
the  context  being  occasionally  broken  by  a 
parenthesis.  In  the  New  Testan:ient  these 
are  very  frequent,  especially  with  Paul,  whose 
impetuous  genius  often  starts  aside  to  em- 
body a  vivid  conception  or  glowing  sentiment 
that  suddenly  kindled  in  his  mind,  and  which 
he  did  not  allow  himself  leisure  to  weave  into 
the  general  texture  of  his  discourse.  We 
have  a  beautiful  example  in  2  Tim.  i.  16,  18: 
where  the  short  prayer  in  the  beginning  of 
the  18th  verse  is  evidently  an  extempore 
burst  of  grateful  emotion,  and  the  words  must 
be  enclos'ed  in  brackets  ;  '^  But  when  Onesi- 
phorus  was  in  Rome  he  sought  me  out  very 
diligently  and  found  me,  [the  Lord  grant  unto 
him  that  he  may  find  mercy  of  the  Lord  in 
that  day,)  and  in  how  many  things  he  minis- 
tered to  me  at  Ephesus,  thou  knowest  very 
well."  A  more  striking  instance  is  in  Eph. 
iii.  where  the  first  and  fourteenth  verses  must 
be  immediately  united,  the  parenthesis  con- 
sisting of  not  less  than  thirteen. 

Attention   to  this,  wonderfully  enlightens 
some  of  his  dark  sayings  ;  among  others,  that 


52  CONTEXT. 

in  1  Tim.  v.  23  :  ''Drink  no  longer  water, 
but  use  a  little  wine  for  thy  stomach's  sake 
and  thine  often  infirmities."  The  Apostle  is 
in  the  midst  of  a  solemn  and  weighty  exhor- 
tation to  Timothy  in  relation  to  ordaining  can- 
didates for  the  ministry.  In  the  22d  verse, 
he  says,  "  lay  hands  suddenly  on  no  man, 
neither  be  partaker  of  other  men's  sins,  keep 
thyself  pure."  In  the  24th  he  carries  out  the 
thought,  stating  that  some  men's  disqualifica- 
tions were  open  and  manifest  to  all,  others 
were  more  secret  and  followed  after  them. 
There  is  thus  a  complete  connection  between 
the  22d  and  24th  verses  ;  and  the  question 
rises  how  the  Apostle  comes  to  press  the 
matter  of  wine-drinking  directly  between 
the  two,  when  the  thought  was  so  foreign  to 
his  whole  subject  ?  It  is  manifestly  a  paren- 
thesis. In  the  midst  of  his  directions  con- 
cerning ordination,  he  remembers  that  his 
young  friend  was  of  feeble  constitution,  and 
liable  to  severe  attacks  of  dyspepsia.  It  is  in 
his  mind  to  prescribe  a  glass — not  of  syrup, 
but  of  good  generous  wine,  which  is  known 
to  possess  great  virtue  in  such  complaints. 


CONTEXT.  53 

No  sooner  thought,  than  done.  Without 
losing  a  moment,  he  tosses  it  into  the  middle 
of  his  argument,  where  it  stands  a  fine  spe- 
cimen of  the  noble  artlessness  of  the  great 
Apostle.  Dr.  Paley  builds  on  this  circum- 
stance a  strong  argument  for  the  authenticity 
of  the  epistle.  It  scarcely  would  have  en- 
tered the  mind  of  an  impostor,  to  exhibit 
Paul  as  commending  wine,  in  a  grave,  apos- 
tolical epistle  :  much  less,  would  he  have  in- 
troduced the  advice  in  so  strange  and  im- 
probable a  manner. 


RULE  y. 

We  must  know  the  character,  age^  sect, 
nation,  and  other  peculiarities  of  the  writer. 
Every  human  being  has  a  character — a  cer- 
tain something  which  distinguishes  him  from 
others,  giving  a  hue  to  all  his  thoughts  and 
modes  of  expressing  them.  This  must  be 
known,  in  order  to  his  being  understood.  The 
inspired  writers  are  no  exception  to  the  rule. 
They  who  imagine  that  the  Holy  Spirit  so 
6* 


54  CHARACTER,    ETC. 

possessed  their  minds  that  they  became  mere 
automata  in  his  hands,  and  poured  out  words 
and  thoughts  as  they  were  successively 
poured  in — hke  so  many  water-pipes  of  a 
cistern,  betray  profound  ignorance  of  the  sub- 
ject. Some  such  crude  fancies  were  enter- 
tained in  former  times,  and  are  probably  not 
extinct.  They  doubtless  originated  in  a 
vague  notion,  that  the  more  entirely  human 
agency  was  excluded  from  the  doctrine  of  in- 
spiration, the  higher  honour  was  bestowed  on 
the  Divine  Spirit :  and  the  etymology  of  the 
word  "  inspiration"  had  also  its  effect.  It 
originally  and  properly  signified,  a  hreatliing 
in,  and  suggested  the  dark  and  mysterious 
conception  of  an  effect  produced  on  the  think- 
ing substance  of  a  man,  not  unlike  tiie  infla-* 
tion  of  a  bladder — 

*'  magnam  cui  mentcm  animumque, 
Delius  inspirat  vates." 

But  inspiration  has  nothing  in  common  with 
its  etymology.  It  simply  expresses  the  idea 
of  supernatural  assistance  and  guidance  in 
the  communication  to  mankind  of  truths  pre- 
viously unknown.  Those  who  were  honoured 


OF  THE   WRITERS.  55 

with  it,  were  enabled  to  speak,  act,  and  write, 
as  divine  messengers,  in  perfect  conformity 
with  the  will  of  Him  who  sent  them  ;  so  that 
nothing  proceeded  from  them,  but  what  was 
holy  and  true.     Yet  they  were  not  puppets, 
acted  on  by  a  ph3^sical  and  compelling  force 
from  without.     They  were   living,  personal 
agents,  in  full  possession  of  all  the  faculties 
with  which  they  had  been  endowed  by  their 
Creator — with    perception,     memory,     con- 
sciousness, will ;  and  the  energy  of  the  Holy 
Ghost  wrought  no  greater  violence  on   their 
minds  in  the  exercise  of  these  powers,  than 
is  wrought  by  his  ordinary  operation  on  the 
hearts  of  believers  in  every  age  of  the  church. 
It  is  not  our  business  to  give  the  philoso- 
phy of  this   "  pre-established  harmony"  be- 
tween agencies  so  different,  nor  to  speculate 
on  the  mode  in  which  they  were  combined 
for  the  production  of  a  single  result.     As  in- 
terpreters, we  state  the  fact — not  exjylain  it: 
and  the  fact  certainly  is,  that  no  men  are 
more  distinguished  from  each  other  by  strong 
mental  idiosyncrasies,  nor  any  who  give  more 
decided  evidence,  that  their  own  spirits  per- 


56  CIlA^RACTERj    ETC. 

formed  an  important  office  in  composition. 
In  the  author  of  the  book  of  Proverbs,  we  see 
before  us  the  grave,  sententious,  dignified 
monarch,  whose  profound  knowledge  of  hu- 
man nature,  and  sparkhng  gems  of  wisdom, 
made  liis  name  celebrated  throughout  the 
East.  Amos  is  alwaj^s  the  strong,  bold,  but 
somewhat  unpolished  herdsman  of  Tekoah. 
The  rough  and  vehement  Ezekiel,  standing 
with  dishevelled  hair  and  rolling  eye,  in  the 
midst  of  his  fantastic  but  expressive  symbols, 
never  suffers  us  to  mistake  him  for  Isaiah, 
the  sublime,  imaginative,  tasteful  courtier  of 
Hezekiah.  The  same  with  the  plaintive, 
tender  Jeremiah — the  contemplative  John — 
the  argumentative,  glowing  Paul.  It  is  an 
old,  but,  with  proper  explanation,  perfectly 
true  remark,  originally  made  by  Jerome,  that 
*'  revelation  consists  in  thought,  not  in  words 
or  external  dress  :  nee  putemus  in  verbis 
scripturam  evangelii  esse,  sed  in  sensu."  We 
insult  the  Holy  Ghost  by  supposing  him  un- 
able to  accommodate  himself  to  the  mode  of 
thinking  and  phraseology  of  those  whom  he 
honoured  with  his  influence — that  when  he 


OF   THE   WRITERS.  57 

made  the  prophet  he  was  forced  to  unmake 
the  man. 

When  we  read  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans 
therefore,  we  must  remember  that  we  are 
conversing  with  a  finished  gentleman  of  the 
old  school ;  a  scholar  brought  up  at  the  feet 
of  Gamaliel,  a  powerful  but  rapid  reasoner, 
delighting  in  ellipses,  digressions,  repetitions, 
bold  figures,  and  pregnant  expressions,  sug- 
gesting more  than  meets  the  ear — fond  of  il- 
lustrating his  subject  by  Old  Testament  ideas, 
even  when  he  intends  making  no  use  of  them 
in  argument ;  and  above  all,  that  we  are  con- 
versing with  him,  who,  more  than  any  other 
apostle,  was  deeply  penetrated  with  the  glo- 
rious catholicity  and  abounding  grace  of  the 
gospel !  In  reading  James,  we  must  think 
of  the  stern,  high-souled  moralist,  in  whom 
the  ethical  element  of  Christianity  seems  to 
have  taken  the  deepest  root ;  who,  while  with 
adoring  faith  he  beheld  "  the  Lamb  slain 
from  the  foundation  of  the  world,"  never  lost 
from  his  view  the  awful  form  of  that  "eternal 
law,"  which  spoke  in  thunder  from  Sinai, 
and  yet  speaks  in  milder  tones,  though  with 


58  CHARACTER,    ETC. 

the  same  commanding  authority,  to  every 
child  of  Adam.  John,  in  his  writings,  seems 
to  be  still  clinging  to  his  master's  bosom. — 
Love  to  the  person  of  his  Redeemer  is  evi- 
dently his  engrossing  sentiment.  No  one 
can  doubt,  apart  from  every  argument  con- 
tained in  other  parts  of  Scripture,  that  John 
believed  him  to  be  divine.  His  glory  as  the 
uncreated  Logos— that  glory  which  he  had 
with  the  Father  before  the  world  was,  a  few 
scattered  rays  of  which  had  been  seen  through 
the  veil  of  his  humiliation,  is  the  great  thought 
with  which  his  soul  holds  constant  commun- 
ion, raised  above  every  other  object — like  the 
eagle  calmly  reposing  in  mid  heaven,  and 
gazing  at  the  sun !  He  who  gives  no  atten- 
tion to  these  things,  and  does  not  take  pains 
to  catch  the  distinctive  peculiarities  of  the 
sacred  writers,  commits  the  same  kind  of 
blunder  with  that  of  the  man  who  reads  Mil- 
ton's Paradise  Lost,  and  Addison's  Essays  in 
the  Spectator,  yet  sees  no  difference  between 
them  except  in  the  length  of  the  lines. 

It  is  important  also  to  note  the  different 
kinds  of  composition  they  employed.     Some 


OF   THE    WRITERS.  59 

were  poets,  and  must  be  interpreted  according 
to  the  laws  of  poetry.  Their  bold  tropes 
must  not  be  turned  into  sober  matter-of-fact 
realities  ;  as  is  done  by  the  Millenarians  who 
read  Isaiah  nearly  as  they  would  Black- 
stone's  Commentaries,  or  the  British  Consli- 
tution.  Ezekiel  is  not  Luke,  nor  is  Mat- 
thew the  publican,  David,  singing  one  of  the 
sweet  odes  of  Zion  to  the  music  of  his  harp. 
Historians  are  to  be  treated  as  historians,  not 
as  poets  or  rhetoricians.  The  accounts  of 
miracles  given  in  our  four  gospels  must  there- 
fore be  taken  to  the  letter.  No  books  in  the 
world  bear  more  decided  evidence  that  their 
authors  intended  to  give  simple  and  perspic- 
uous narratives  of  events  as  they  actually  oc- 
curred. The  principle  must  not  be  tolerated 
for  a  moment,  of  explaining  them  away,  by 
doing  violence  to  the  plain  meaning  of  lan- 
guage, and  to  all  the  laws  which  are  apphed 
to  other  historical  compositions.  Yet  it  has 
been  sanctioned  by  great  names,  especially 
in  Germany.  Grave  divines  are  found,  who 
insist  that  there  is  not  one  miracle  in  the 
gospels.     The  events  which  seem  miraculous 


60  CHARACTER,    ETC. 

were  entirely  natural,  but  exaggerated  and 
embellished  by  the  warm  fancies  of  the  peo- 
ple among  whom  they  occurred.  Only  strip, 
they  say,  the  Evangelists  of  this  semi-poetic 
drapery,  and  the  business  of  exposition  will 
go  on  delightfully.  Moses  fares,  if  possible, 
still  worse.  They  turn  him  into  an  allego- 
rist  or  reciter  of  mythological  fables.  The 
first  ten  chapters  of  Genesis  contain  about  as 
large  a  body  of  real  truth,  as  can  pass  with- 
out inconvenience  through  the  eye  of  a  nee- 
dle— being  made  up  of  old  stories  and  scraps 
of  song,  which  mean  nothing,  or  anything, 
that  a  lively  fancy  may  suggest. 

Let  not  the  Christian  student  take  great 
pains  to  refute  this  wretched  infidelity,  which 
does  not  openly  avow  itself  infidel,  merely 
because  its  advocates  earn  their  bread  by  a 
profession  of  Christianity  ;  the  most  of  them 
being  either  professors  of  Christian  theology  or 
pastors  of  Christian  churches.  Indignandum 
de  isto  ;  non  disputandum  est.  Such  interpre- 
tations do  not  deserve  the  name.  They  are 
feats  of  jugglery  and  legerdemain  ;  and  their 
authors  are  canceited  sciolists,  who,  pranking 


COMMON    SENSE.  61 

themselves  as  the  high-priests  of  philosoph)% 
prove  by  their  irreverence  for  things  sacred, 
that  they  have  not  reached  the  portico  of  her 
temple.  The  true  philosopher  always  trem- 
bles when  he  stands,  or  even  suspects  that 
he  stands,  in  the  presence  of  God  !  He  can- 
not trifle  with  such  a  book  as  the  Bible  !  He 
cannot  sport  with  a  volume,  the  falsehood  of 
which,  if  proved,  turns  him  over  to  the  beasts, 
and  deprives  him  of  his  last  stake  as  a  can- 
didate for  the  glories  of  immortality. 


RULE  VI. 

In  expounding  Scripture,  let  therebe  a  con- 
stant appeal  to  the  tribunal  of  common  sense. 
Language  is  not  the  invention  of  metaphysi- 
cians, or  convocations  of  the  wise  and  learned. 
It  is  the  common  blessing  of  mankind,  framed 
for  their  mutual  advantage  in  their  intercourse 
with  each  other.  Its  laws  therefore  are  pop- 
ular, not  philosophical — being  founded  on  the 
general  laws  of  thought  which  govern  the 
whole  mass  of  mind  in  the  community.  Now, 
however  men  may  differ  from  each  other, 


62  COMMON   SENSE. 

there  are  certain  universal  notions,  plain  and 
obvious  principles  of  knowledge,  according 
to  which  speech  is  regulated.  When  we  try 
a  work  by  these,  we  bring  it  to  the  standard 
of  "  common  sense." 

There  is  occasion  for  it  every  moment. — 
Scarcely  will  we  hear  in  a  long  and  serious 
conversation  between  the  best  speakers,  a 
sentence  which  does  not  need  some  modifi- 
cation or  limitation,  in  order  that  we  may  not 
attribute  to  it  more  or  less  than  was  intended. 
Nor  is  the  operation  at  all  difficult.  We 
make  the  correction  instantly,  with  so  little 
cost  of  thought,  that  we  would  be  tempted 
to  call  it  instinct,  if  we  did  not  know  that 
many  of  our  perception's  which  seem  intui- 
tive, are  the  work  of  habit  and  education. — 
It  would  be  an  exceedingly  strange-  thing,  if 
the  Bible,  the  most  popular  of  all  books,  com- 
posed by  men  for  the  most  part  taken  from 
the  multitude,  addressed  to  all,  and  on  sub- 
jects equally  interesting  to  all,  were-  found 
written  in  language  to  be  interpreted  on  dif- 
ferent principles.  But,  in  point  of  fact,  it  is 
not.     Its  style  is  eminently,  and  to  a  remark- 


COMMON    SENSE.  63 

able  degree,  that  wliicli  we  would  expect  to 
find  in  a  volume  designed  by  its  gracious  Au- 
thor to  be  the  people's  hook — abounding  in  all 
those  kinds  of  inaccuracy  which  are  sprink- 
led through  ordinary  discourse,  hyperboles, 
analogies,  and  loose  catechrestical  expres- 
sions, whose  meaning  no  one  mistakes,  though 
their  deviation  from  plu?nb,  occasionally 
makes  the  small  critic  sad.  In  such  cases, 
we  reject  every  thing  incompatible  with  evi- 
dent truth ;  assuming  that  the  Bible  could 
never  intend  to  contradict  our  reason,  or  teach 
in  any  possible  case  that  two  and  two  are 
five.     We  shall  give  a  few  illustrations. 

1st.  It  never  teaches  doctrines  refuted  hy 
the  testimony  of  the  senses.  Thus,  when 
David  sa3^s  that  "  he  is  poured  out  like  water, 
and  all  his  bones  are  out  of  joint,  that  his 
heart  is  melted  in  the  midst  of  his  bowels," 
we  perceive  instantly  that  a  literal  pouring 
out  and  melting  cannot  be  meant,  as  nothing 
of  the  kind  has  been  ever  witnessed.  When 
the  Redeemer,  in  the  institution  of  the  Sup- 
per, declares  of  the  bread,  that  it  is  his  body ; 
and  of  the  wine,  that  it  is  his  blood,  we  ne- 


64  COMMON    SENSE. 

cessarily  understand  him  to  be  speaking  figu- 
ratively and   symbolically.     My  senses  dis- 
tinctly see,  taste,  smell,  and  feel,  that  the  sa- 
cramental elements  are  nothing  but  real  bread 
and  wine.    If  the  Scriptures  really  taught  the 
popish   doctrine   of  transubstantiation,   they 
would  declare  a  falsehood,  which  would  be 
quite  sufficient  by  itself  to  destroy  their  au- 
thority.    The  principle  of  believing   a   doc- 
trine indirect  opposition  to  the  clear  evidence 
of  the  senses,  is  destructive  of  all  evidence. 
If  my  senses  may  deceive  me,  how  shall  I 
convince  myself  that  I  ever  saw  a  book  called 
the  Bible,  or  read  it,  or  ever  heard  of  such  a 
being  as  Jesus  Christ  ?     The  delusion  prac- 
tised on  me  at  the  Lord's  table,  where  1  am 
eating  and  drinking  the  real  body  and  blood 
of  a  dead  man,  while    tasting  and  smelling 
bread  and  wine,  may  be  part  of  a  most  ex- 
tensive scheme  of  imposture,  to  which   no 
limits  can  be  assigned. 

2d.  Its  statements  must  he  co??ipared  with 
the  results  of  experience  and  observation. — 
No  one  who  reads  the  command,  "  Be  per- 
fect, even  as  your  Father  in  heaven  is  per- 


COMMON   SENSE.  65 

feet,"  with  reference  at  the  same  time  to  the 
state  of  the  world  in  all  ages,  can  deny  that 
it  is  to  be  taken  with  a  grain  of  allowance. 
Let  us  aim  at  perfection,  but  not  dream  of 
attaining  it — experience  amply  proving  that 
there  is  no  man  who  sinneth  not.  In  Matt. 
X.  34,  Christ  tells  his  disciples  that  "he  came 
not  to  send  peace  on  earth  but  a  sword." — 
History  is  the  best  commentary  on  this  some- 
what harsh  expression.  The  Gospel  occa- 
sioned discords  in  families  and  nations,  by 
inducing  some  to  accept  its  guidance,  while 
others  rejected  it.  These  frequently  led  to 
persecutions,  which  were  the  sword  alluded 
to  in  the  text. 

3.  Passages  must  be  harmonized  ivith  es- 
tablished facts  in  science.  Truth  is  always 
in  accordance  with  herself.  Her  two  great 
books,  Nature  and  Revelation,  cannot  be 
at  variance,  though  the  latter  seldom  trims 
her  phraseology  into  conformity  with  the 
starched  definitions  of  science  ;  for  which 
every  man  of  taste  and  discernment  likes  her 
tlie  better.  The  expressions  therefore  which 
represent  the  earth  as  at  rest — as  being  built 
6* 


66  COMMON   SENSE. 

on  the  waters — as  having  hounds  and  limits 
— and  the  sun  as  moving  round  it,  are  not 
to  be  brought  in  coUision  with  astronomy. 
The  representations  of  God  as  coming  to  a 
place — deserting  it: — asking  questions — 
grieving — repenting,  must  be  explained  con- 
sistently with  the  first  elements  of  natural 
rehgion,  which  teach  that  he  is  a  pure  Spirit, 
omnipresent,  all-knowing,  and  above  all 
change  or  perturbation.  Lactantius,  a  Latin 
Father,  must  have  lost  his  compass  entirel}^ 
when  he  undertook  to  prove  from  the  Scrip- 
tures that  God  has  passions — thus  contradict- 
ing a  plain  and  evident  principle  of  reason. 

Whether  the  sacred  interpreter  will  ever 
be  required  to  modify  the  old  expositions  of 
the  first  twenty  verses  of  the  first  chapter  of 
Genesis  in  conformity  with  the  decisions  of 
geology,  we  do  not  profess  to  conjecture. 
The  science  is  in  its  infancy,  and  as  yet  has 
made  no  positive  demands,  though  on  some 
points  expressing  very  strongly  its  wishes. 
Whatever  be  the  result,  we  need  not  fear  it. 
Scripture  will  never  be  found  among  the  ene-^ 
mies  of  knowledge  and  sound  learning. 


COMMON     SENSE.  67 

4.  It  cannot  he  at  issue  ivitli  any  of  our 
intuitive  moral  judgments  If  it  recom- 
mends the  "  cutting  off  a  right  hand  and 
plucking  out  a  right  eye,"  it  must  not  be 
taken  to  mean  bodily  mutilation.  Our  life 
and  members  are  a  sacred  trust  committed 
to  us,  which  we  dare  not  trifle  with.  When 
Christ  says,  "  If  any  man  hate  not  his  father 
and  mother  and  wife  and  children,  he  cannot 
be  my  disciple,"  he  is  using  a  strong  hyper- 
bole to  denote  the  greater  love  which  we 
should  bear  himself.  Our  moral  sense  re- 
volts at  the  idea  of  hatred  to  parents,  and  no 
exposition  can  be  tolerated  that  would  sanc- 
tion a  feeling  so  detestable.  In  Luke  x.  4, 
he  commands  his  disciples  "  not  to  salute 
(during  one  of  their  missionary  journeys)  any 
by  the  way," — a  precept  which  our  Quaker 
Brethren  obey  to  the  letter.  But  Christ  could 
never  have  intended  to  inculcate  rudeness  ; 
it  must  therefore  mean,  '•  Do  not  lose  time  by 
holding  unnecessary  intercourse  with  your 
friends  ;  use  all  expedition  in  journeying  to 
the  scene  of  your  labours."  Equally  absurd 
is  their  well  known  exposition  of  the  precept 


C8  COMMON    SENSE. 

"  When  smitten  on  the  one  cheek,  turn  the 
other  also  ;"  as  if  the  Saviour  disapproved 
of  self-defence. 

On  a  similar  principle,  we  explain  those 
passages,  which  exhibit  the  prophets  as  doing 
by  command  of  God  things  inconsistent  with 
natural  propriety.  Hosea,  for  example,  is 
commanded  to  marry  two  impure  w^omen  ; 
Ezekiel  to  lie  on  his  left  side  a  year  and  a 
month,  looking  at  an  iron  pan — then  turn 
over  to  his  right  side,  on  which  he  must  lie 
forty  additional  days — eating  during  the 
whole  period  a  compost  of  lentiles,  beans, 
barley,  millet  and  fitches,  prepared  in  a  man- 
ner most  decidedly  disagreeable.  We  affirm 
boldl}^  that  the  expositors  who  consider  these 
and  others  which  might  be  mentioned,  as 
real  transactions,  dishonour  the  word  of  God, 
while  they  betray  a  want  of  taste  that  is  as- 
tounding. Beyond  all  doubt,  they  were  sym- 
bolical representations,  that  passed  before  the 
Prophet's  mind  in  his  inspired  extacy. 

The  rule  under  our  notice,  requiring  us  to 
try  expressions  by  the  standard  of  common 
sense,  is  of  great  use  in  explaining  a  class  of 


COMMON    SENSE.  G9 

propositions  very  frequent  in  Scripture,  which 
seem  to  have  no  limit  in  their  apphcation, 
but  must  be  restricted  by  the  mind  of  the 
reader.  They  are  thrown  out  by  the  waiter, 
with  the  noble  carelessness  of  one  who  takes 
a  strong  view  of  a  sul)ject,  and  determines 
to  strike  with  it — not  caring  for  the  great 
swarm  of  little  huts^  that  invariably  rise  be- 
fore the  mind  of  a  feeble  thinker,  and  darken 
the  principal  idea.  We  shall  add  a  few  ex- 
amples. 

Absolute  expressions,  often  denote  only 
what  usually  takes  place.  Solomon  tells  us 
in  Prov.  xxii.  6,  "  train  up  a  child  in  the  way 
he  should  go,  and  when  he  is  old  he  will  not 
depart  from  it."  This  is  not  always  true  : 
Odd  as  it  may  seem,  Solomon  himself  was 
an  exception.  Yet  it  is  true  generally.  A 
wise  and  pious  education  gives  good  reason 
to  expect  the  divine  blessing.  Sometimes 
they  only  denote  the  tendency  of  a  thing. 
Prov.  XV.  1,  "a  soft  answer  turneth  away 
wrath."  It  is  calculated  to  produce  this  hap- 
py effect.  Paul  declares  that  the  "  good- 
ness of  God  leadeth  to  repentance."     With 


70  com:\ion  sense. 

submission  to  the  Apostle — not  always.    Too 
often  it  corrupts  and  hardens. 

At  other  limes,  they  only  indicate  duty — 
right — official  obligation.      Thus    Solomon 
says,  Prov.  xvi.  10,  "  a  divine  sentence  is  in 
the  lips  of  the  king,  his  mouth  transgresseth 
not  in   judgment."     Peter,   in   like    manner 
says  of  the  civil  magistrate,  "  he  is  the  min- 
ister of  God  for  good,  a  terror  to  evil  work- 
ers   and  a  praise    to    them  that   do   well." 
Such  declarations  show  what  he  is  de  jure  : 
the  de  facto,   is  quite   another  question,    as 
Peter   himself    experienced    shortly    after  ; 
being  put  to   death  by  one  of  these  divine 
ministers  in  the  most    cruel   manner.     The 
same  principle  we  apply  to  those  statements 
which    exhibit   the    Redeemer  as  dying  for 
"all" — for  "  every  man" — for  the  "  sins   of 
the  world."     They  contain  a  precious   char- 
ter of  privilege — right — and  consequent  obli- 
gation to  accept  him.      He  is  by   oflice  the 
world^s  saviour.    All  may  enjoy  the  blessings 
which  he  hath  purchased,    and  are  excluded 
simply  by  unbelief. 

Occasionally,   we  find  assertions  broadly 


COMMON    SENSE.  Tl 

made  that  refer  only  to   external  character 
and  profession.     Paul  describes  apostates  as 
counting  *'  the  blood  of  the  covenant  where- 
with they  were  sanctified,  an  unholy  thing." 
They  were  so  in  appearance.     Having  avow- 
ed their  attachment  before  the  church  and  the 
world,  they  were  recognized  as  true  disciples 
and  heirs  of  the  promise.     Yet  of  such,   an- 
other Apostle  declares,  "  they  went  out  from 
us,  because  they  were  not  of  us :  for  if  they 
had  been  of  us,   they  never  would  have  de- 
parted."    So,  all  credible  professors  are  call- 
ed   "  saints"  and  *'  holy."     The  sacred  wri- 
ters always  treat  them   as   being  what  they 
ought  to  be.     This  practice  of  naming  things 
from  their  appearance  is  quite  common.    The 
impostor  Hananiah  for  instance,  is  called  in 
Jer.  xxviii.  1,  a  "Prophet."     False  pretend- 
ers to  piety,  are  in  Matt.  ix.  13,  called  right- 
eous :   '*  I  am  not  come  to  call  the  ri^rhteous 
but  sinners  to  repentance."    Paul  in  1.  Cor. 
i.  21,    names  the    preaching  of  the  gospel 
"  foolishness,"  because  it  was  thought  such 
by  the  haughty  Greek. 

There  are  other  ways  in  which  proposi- 


72  CO:\IMON    SENSE. 

tions  stated  absolutely,  must  be  limited.  In- 
deed, so  various  are  they,  that  no  definite 
rule  can  be  laid  down  which  will  apply  to 
every  case.  Each  should  receive  the  modi- 
fication dictated  by  common  sense.  The 
precept  for  instance,  requiring  us  "  not  to 
revenge  ourselves,"  forbids  the  taking  pri- 
vate vengeance,  not  judicial  punishment. 
Christ,  in  Matt.  v.  33,  commands  us  to  "  swear 
not."  The  connection  shows  us,  that  he  re- 
fers to  unnecessary  and  extrajudicial  oaths  ; 
but  independently  of  arguments  from  the 
context,  we  might  safely  assume  that  he 
never  could  have  intended  to  nullify  an  in- 
stitution almost  coeval  with  the  human  race,- 
and  which  he  sanctioned  by  personal  exam- 
ple. We  are  commanded  in  like  manner,  to^ 
"take  no  thought  for  the  morrow" — to  "judge 
not,  that  we  be  not  judged" — to  "  pray  with- 
out ceasing" — expressions  which  it  is  scarce- 
ly possible  to  misunderstand — though  it 
would  not  be  safe  to  stake  much  on  the  as- 
sertion ;  many  betraying  a  perversity  of 
thinking  where  Scripture  is  concerned,  that 
on  any   other  subject  would   be  ludicrous. 


TROPES    AND    FIGURES.  73 

The  family  of  wrongheads  in  theology,  is  a 
very  numerous  one. 


RULE  VII. 

Study  attentively  the  tropes  and  figures 
of  the  sacred  luritings.  These  are  devia- 
tions from  natural  simplicity  of  expression  ; 
one  idea  being  substituted  for  another,  and 
made  to  represent  it  on  the  ground  of  some 
relation  between  them  ;  as  when  I  call  a 
warrior,  a  lion  ;  compare  the  march  of  an 
undisciplined  army  to  the  flight  of  a  noisy 
flock  of  cranes,  or  address  a  dead  or  absent 
person  as  if  possessing  life.  They  abound 
in  all  languages,  and  in  many  instances  are 
the  very  language  of  nature.  The  least  ex- 
citement of  feeling  impels  a  man  of  ordinary 
fancy  to  express  his  thought,  not  by  the  word 
directly  appropriated  to  it,  but  by  some  acces- 
sory idea,  which  he  prefers  on  account  of  its 
greater  vivacity  and  beauty.  Thus  old  age 
is  the  evening  of  life  ;  youth  the  morning  ; 
error  is  blindness ;  a  great  statesman,  the 
7      . 


74  TROPES    AND    FIGURES. 

pillar  of  the  commonwealth.  The  fields 
smile — the  stones  cry  out — the  heavens  weep. 
No  one  fails  to  perceive  the  superior  liveli- 
ness and  brilliancy  of  such  modes  of  expres- 
sion. 

Nor  will  their  frequent  occurrence  in  the 
Bible  surprise  us,  when  we  consider  that 
much  of  it  is  poetry,  and  its  birth-place  the 
imaginative  east.  Its  figures  are  not  only 
numerous  but  exceedingly  bold— sometimes 
even  startling  to  an  occidental  ear  and  a  taste 
formed  on  classic  models.  "  The  blood  of 
Abei  cries  from  the  ground."  '*  God  makes 
drunk  his  arrows  with  blood."  "  The  heav- 
ens celebrate  the  praises  of  Jehovah."  "  The 
floods  clap  their  hands."  "  When  Israel 
came  out  of  Egypt,  the  s^a  saw  it  and  fled, 
Jordan  was  driven  back,  the  mountains  skip- 
ped like  rams  and  the  little  hills  like  lambs." 
Such  is  the  glowing  language  that  meets  us 
in  every  page,  and  justifies  the  remark  that 
it  is  by  far  the  richest  volume  of  fancy  in 
our  literature.  The  tropes  which  occur  most 
frequently,  are  the  following. 

1.  Metonymy.     This  denotes  the   siibsii^ 


TROPES    AND    FIGURES.  75 

tution  of  one  word  for  another,  where  the 
thouglits  are  closely  conjoined  and  rise  up 
together  in  the  mind,  though  there  be  no 
proper  resemblance  between  them.  Such 
are  the  ideas  of  cause  and  effect— subject 
and  attribute — container  and  contained — sign 
and  thing  signified. 

The  cause  is  put  for  the  effect.  Thus  the 
Holy  Spirit  is  put  for  the  gifts  and  influence 
of  the  Spirit.  1.  Thess.  v.  19,  "  quench  not 
the  Spirit."  Luke  xi.  13,  "  how  much  more 
shall  your  heavenly  Father  give  the  Holy  Spi- 
rit to  them  that  ask  him."  Rev.  i.  10,  "I 
was  in  spirit  on  the  Lord's  day,"  i.  e.  a  state 
of  mind  caused  by  the  spirit.  In  the  same 
sense  Jesus  was  "  led  by  the  spirit  into  the 
wilderness  to  be  tempted  of  the  devil :"  he 
went  there  under  a  divine  prompting  and  im- 
pulse. Parents  are  sometimes  put  for  their 
posterity,  as  Judah  for  the  Jews  ;  and  in 
Ezek.  xxxiv.  23,  David  is  used  for  Messiah, 
his  promised  son  and  successor  to  his  throne  : 
"  I  will  set  up  one  shepherd  over  them,  and 
he  shall  feed  them,  even  7ny  se7^vant  David." 
Frequently   the    converse  of  our  rule  takes 


76  TROPES    AND    FIGURES. 

place — the  effect  being  put  for  the  cause. 
Chirst  is  called  "  our  hfc"  because  he  is  its 
author.  "  He  is  made  of  God  unto  us  wis- 
dom, righteousness,  sanctification  and  re- 
demption :"  i.  e.  God  has  constituted  him 
the  source  of  all  those  blessings.  In  He- 
brews vi.  1.  the  Apostle  calls  sinful  works 
"  dead."  In  what  sense  are  they  dead  ?  Some 
reply,  because  they  have  no  moral  principle 
or  vitality  in  them.  But  this  is  too  weak. 
They  are  probably  so  called,  metonymicall}^, 
because  they  lead  to  death.  In  Rom.  vii.  7, 
Paul  asks  "  is  the  law  sin  ?"  he  means  to 
inquire,  whether  it  produces  sin. 

The  container  is  put  for  the  contained. 
A  table,  denotes  the  food  placed  on  it :  "  Let 
their  table  become  a  snare."  A  cup  stands 
for  the  liquor  it  contains:  1.  Cor.  x.  16, 
"  The  cup  of  blessing  which  we  bless." 
Heaven,  for  God  himself.  Hence  the  often 
recurring  phrase,  "  kingdom  of  heaven,"  ap- 
plied to  the  new  dispensation  of  Messiah. 
There  is  no  direct  allusion  in  it  to  the  heaven- 
ly state,  but  simply  to  its  divine  origin.  In 
other  places  it  is  expressly  called  the  king- 


TROPES    AND    FIGURES.  77 

dom  of  God,  Matt.  xix.  24,  Luke  xiii.  29. 
House,  signifies  the  family  residing  in  it. 
Gen.  vii.  1,  "  Enter  thou  and  all  thy  house 
into  the  ark."  This  is  its  meaning  in  Ex.  i. 
21,  which  states  that  because  the  "midwives 
feared  God,  he  made  them  houses."  If  the 
idea  of  giving  two  midwives  a  pair  of  houses 
be  a  little  odd,  there  is  nothing  strange  in 
Divine  Providence  rewarding  their  kindness 
to  the  families  of  his  people,  by  giving  them 
large  and  flourishing  families  of  their  own. 
On  this  use  of  the  word,  Pa^,dobaptists  found 
one  of  their  strongest  arguments  for  infant 
baptism.  It  is  contended,  that  the  "  houses" 
which  the  Apostles  baptized,  must  have  in- 
cluded all  of  the  family,  young  as  well  as 
old — such  being  the  way  in  which  the  term 
is  uniformly  employed. 

The  sign  for  the  thing  signified  ;  as  a 
sceptre  or  shepherd's  staff  for  power.  To 
"  lift  up  the  hand"  is  to  sioear :  "to  bow  the 
knee"  is  to  do  homage:  to  ''put  on  sack- 
cloth" is  to  mourn.  Baptism  is  by  a  like 
metonymy  identified  with  the  moral  renova- 
tion which  it  symbohzes.  The  neglect  of 
7* 


78  TROPES   AND  FIGURES. 

this  figure  led  the  ancient  Fathers,  who  are 
followed  by  many  in  the  present  day,  to  hold 
that  baptism  was  itself  regeneration — found- 
ing their  opinion  on  the  words  of  Christ  to 
Nicodemus,  "  except  a  man  be  born  of  water 
and  the  spirit  he  cannot  enter  the  kingdom  of 
God ;"  and  the  language  of  Paul,  Tit.  iii.  5, 
*'  he  saved  us  by  the  washing  of  regeneration 
and  renewing  of  the  Holy  Ghost."  From 
these  expressions  they  infer,  that  a  positive 
renewing  grace  is  actually  communicated  to 
the  subject  of  the  ordinance,  and  with  it  a 
complete  forgiveness  of  sin  previously  com- 
mitted. Were  we  believers  in  this  doctrine, 
we  should  spend  a  considerable  part  of  our 
time  in  marvelUng  at  the  singular  taste  of  the 
Apostle  Paul,  who  declined  administering 
baptism  except  in  a  few  extraordinary  cases  ; 
and  even  thanks  God  that  he  had  regenerated 
none  but  Crispus,  Gains,  and  the  household 
of  Stephanas,  1  Cor.  i.  16.  The  same  Apos- 
tle, however,  in  another  place,  expressly 
claims  the  honour  of  having  begotten  them, 
though  he  had  no  agency  in  their  baptism  ; 
1  Cor.  iv.  15,  "  In  Christ  Jesus  I  have  begot- 


TROPES  AND  FIGURES.  79 

ten  you  through  the  Gospel."  Equally  strange 
is  it  that  our  blessed  Lord  should  have  de- 
clined to  perform  a  rite,  which,  for  the  stu- 
pendous effects  produced  by  it  on  the  corrupt 
and  darkened  mind,  infinitely  surpassed  all 
his  miracles  on  the  body.  The  doctrine  seems, 
on  other  accounts  also,  really  incredible  ;  and 
we  deem  it  far  more  reasonable  to  suppose, 
that  moral  renovation  is  coupled  with  baptism 
in  the  passages  quoted  above,  because  of  the 
sacramental  and  symbolical  relation  between 
them.  As  in  Acts  vii.  8,  circumcision  is  called 
the  "  Covenant,"  because  it  was  the  sign  of 
the  covenant ;  so  baptism  is  the  "  washing  of 
regeneration,"  because  it  is  the  visible  token 
of  it,  on  the  application  of  which,  a  man  be- 
comes accredited  as  a  citizen  of  the  great 
spiritual  commonwealth,  which  Christ  has 
washed  in  his  blood. 

Frequently  a  sentiment  or  action  is  used 
for  the  object  with  ivhich  it  is  conversant. 
Faith  signifies  not  the  belief,  but  the  doctrine 
believed  :  "  Contend  earnestly  for  the  faith." 
Hope  stands  for  Christ,  the  great  object  of 
hope :  Col.  i.  27,  "  Christ,  the  hope  of  glory." 


80  TROPES   AND   FIGURES. 

Desire,  for  the  thing  desired  ;  Ezek.  xxiv.  16, 
*'  Behold  I  take  away  the  desire  of  thine  eyes 
[the  prophet's  wife]  wdth  a  stroke."  Thus 
Christ  may  be  called  "  the  desire  of  the  na- 
tions," on  account  of  the  earnest  longing  for 
a  Saviour,  and  actual  expectation  of  one  about 
to  appear,  which  preceded  his  advent.  The 
passage  in  Haggai,  however,  where  the  ex- 
pression is  used,  will  hardly  bear  an  immedi- 
ate reference  to  the  Messiah.  The  context, 
as  well  as  certain  grammatical  considerations, 
prove  that  the  treasures  of  the  Gentiles  are 
meant,  which  the  prophet  says  shall  be 
brought  in  great  abundance  to  adorn  the 
second  temple.  That  the  whole  paragraph 
contains  a  prophecy  of  Christ  is  almost  cer- 
tain ;  but  nothing  of  that  kind  is  involved  in 
this  particular  phrase, 

2d.  Synecdoche,  is  the  substitution  of  a 
whole  for  the  part,  or  a  fart  for  the  lohole. 
Of  the  first  kind,  the  following  are  examples. 
The  "world,"  denotes  sometimes  the  Roman 
Empire,  which  was  a  very  small  portion  of  it, 
''Augustus  decreed  that  the  whole  world 
ehould  be  taxed,"     "  All,"  is  put  for  a  single 


TROPES   AND  FIGURES.  81 

individual.  Thus  it  is  said  of  King  Joash 
that  his  servants  slew  him  for  the  blood  of  the 
sons  of  Jehoida,  the  priest,  2  Chron.  xxiv.  25. 
But  it  appears  from  the  20th  verse,  that  Joash 
had  killed  but  o?ie  son,  the  Prophet  Zecha- 
riah.  In  Judges  xii.  7,  it  is  said  that  Jephtha 
was  "  buried  in  the  cities  of  Gilead."  He 
could  be  buried  of  course  only  in  one.  The 
neglect  of  this  synecdoche  led  some  Jewish 
commentators  to  invent  the  strange  fable,  that 
to  punish  him  for  the  sacrifice  of  his  daugh- 
ter, his  body  was  chopped  into  pieces,  and  a 
part  interred  in  each  of  the  principal  cities. 
Sometimes,  All,  is  equivalent  to  Many. 
*'  All  Jerusalem  went  out  to  John  the  Bap- 
tist." "  The  devil  showed  to  our  Redeemer 
all  the  kingdoms  of  the  earth  and  their  glory." 
At  others,  it  denotes  all  kinds :  Acts  x.  12. 
Peter  saw  a  great  sheet,  "in  which  were 
[literally]  all  four-footed  beasts  of  the  field." 
Our  translators  have  rendered  the  expression 
more  intelligible,  but  in  so  doing  forsaken  the 
original,  as  they  have  done  also  in  translating 
Matt.  iv.  23 ;  where  the  Greek  says  that 
Christ  "healed  all  sickness  anddisease  among 


82  TROPES   AND   FIGURES. 

the  people."  All  manner  of  sickness  is  un- 
doubtedly the  idea  intended.  On  this  S3aiec- 
dochical  use  of  the  word,  those  who  con- 
tend that  in  no  sense  can  Christ  be  said  to  die 
for  the  non-elect,  found  their  explications  of 
the  numerous  passages  objected  to  their  view. 
Nothing  more  is  meant,  they  say,  than  that 
he  died  for  "  all  kinds  of  men."  Happily, 
these  gentlemen  are  themselves  a  synecdo- 
che— and  w^e  trust  a  small  one — of  the  party 
to  which  they  belong.  Calvinism  can  boast 
of  a  different  class  of  expositors,  among  whom 
is  found  Calvin  himself— than  whom,  few  use 
stronger  language  in  describing  the  magnifi- 
cent fulness  and  universality  of  the  gracious 
provisions  of  the  gospel. 

The  pari  is  put  for  the  ivhole  ;  as  in  Acts 
xxvii.  37,  "  There  were  in  the  ship  two  hun- 
dred souls."  The  soul  here  comprehends  the 
entire  man.  Many,  is  substituted  for  all ; 
Dan.  xii.  2,  "  Many  that  sleep  in  the  dust 
shall  awake,  some  to  everlasting  life,  and 
some  to  shame  and  everlasting  contempt." 
The  prophet  certainly  does  not  mean  to  de- 
scribe a  partial  resurrection  in  these  remark- 


TROPES   AND   FIGURES.  83 

able  words.  Rom.  v.  19,  "  By  one  man's 
disobedience  many  were  made  sinners."  Who 
the  many  are,  we  find  in  the  former  verse ; 
"  By  the  ofTence  of  one,  judgment  came  upon 
all  men  to  condemnation."  A  striking  exam- 
ple of  the  figure  we  have  in  Ex.  xii.  40,  which 
has  given  much  trouble  to  critics  :  "  Now 
the  sojourning  of  the  Children  of  Israel,  who 
dwelt  in  Egypt,  was  four  hundred  and  thirty 
years."  But  it  can  easily  be  proved,  that 
four  hundred  and  thirty  years  include  the  en- 
tire period  from  the  calling  of  Abraham  out 
of  Ur  of  the  Chaldees.  How  then  are  the 
Israelites  represented  as  dwelling  during  that 
whole  period  in  Egypt?  We  answer,  that 
the  part  is  put  for  the  whole— Egypt,  for  the 
entire  region  in  which  Abraham  sojourned 
with  his  descendants.  Being  an  important 
part,  and  that  in  which  they  resided  last;  the 
writer  singles  it  out  to  represent  all  the  other 
scenes  of  their  pilgrimage.  The  whole  thought 
is  given  by  the  Septuagint  translators,  who 
insert  after  Egypt,  *'  and  in  the  land  of  Ca^ 
naanr 

On  Synechdoches  of  this  kind,  is  founded 


84  TROPES    AND    FIGURES. 

a  general  canon  very  useful  to  be  remem- 
bered in  exposition,  viz  :  that  Scripture  often 
exhibits  a  general  truth  in  the  form  of  a  'par- 
ticular case — not  that  it  is  the  only  one,  but 
that  it  explains  the  principle,  and  suggests 
the  mode  of  applying  it  to  all  others.  The 
language  and  education  of  the  writers  indis- 
posed them  for  dealing  in  abstractions.  Eve- 
rything is  definite  and  particular,  and  may 
be  almost  pictured  to  the  eye.  But  we  shall 
do  them  the  grossest  injustice,  if  we  suppose 
they  rested  here.  There  was  doubtless  a 
great  general  idea  distinctly  before  their 
mind,  of  which  the  picture  was  a  symboli- 
cal representation.  When  the  wise  man  in 
Prov.  XX,  10,  says,  ''Divers  weights  and  di- 
vers measures  are  an  abomination  unto  the 
Lord,"  who  can  doubt  that  he  thought  of  the 
other  innumerable  frauds  practised  by  shop- 
keepers on  their  customers  ?  The  Psalmist 
tells  us,  that  "  the  good  man  is  ever  merciful 
and  lendethr  Accommodating  a  poor  and  in- 
dustrious man  with  a  loan  of  money,  is  true 
kindness,  but  not  the  only  expression  of  it. 
Christ,  in  Matt.  vi.  1,  forbids  us  to  do  our 


TROPES    AND    FIGURES.  85 

alms  before  men  ;  "  he  means  that  we  should 
conceal,  if  possible,  all  our  benevolent  ac- 
tions. In  John  xiii.  14,  he  says,  "Ye  ought 
to  wash  each  other's  feet  :  "  he  might  equally 
have  said,  for  it  is  what  he  intended,  "  Be 
humble    and   mutually   affectionate." 

In  a  like  way,  those  who  justify  the  practice 
of  granting  divorce  for  other  causes  than  adul- 
tery, interpret  the  words  of  Christ  in  Matt. 
V.  32  :  "  Whosoever  shall  put  away  his  wife 
save  for  the  cause  of  fornication,  causeth  her 
to  commit  adultery,  and  whosoever  shall 
marry  her,  that  is  divorced,  committeth  adul- 
tery." The  fornication  here  stated,  to  be  the 
only  ground,  they  view  as  the  princi- 
pal one,  standing  for  others  equally  serious, 
as  desertion,  violence,  and  continued  ill-treat- 
ment. They  contend,  that  the  scope  of  the 
Redeemer  is  to  attack  the  doctrine  of  arbi- 
trary divorcBy  not  to  lay  down  in  form  the 
justificatory  causes  ;  and  appeal  to  the  paral- 
lel passages,  Mark  x.  4,  Luke  xvi.  18,  which 
give  the  prohibition,  without  even  specifying 
fornication  as  an  exception.  Why,  they  ask, 
should  the  statement  of  Matthew  be  consid- 
8 


86  TROPES    AND    FIGURES. 

ered  a  complete  enumeration  of  the  jiistifiable 
causes  of  divorce,  v,  hen  the  other  evangehsts 
give  none  v/hatever?  declaring,  absolutely, 
"  Whoso  shall  put  away  his  wife,  and  mar- 
rieth  another,  committeth  adultery  ?  "     May 
it  not  rather  be  viewed  as  a  synecdochical  ex- 
pression of  the  thought,   that  no  divorce  is 
valid  which  is  not  founded  on  tlie  strongest 
reasons  ?     We  think  the  argument  of  these 
gentlemen  is  exceedingly  plausible,  if  not  en- 
tirely satisfactory  ;  and  remember  having  so 
entirely  convinced  by  it  a  worthy  old  friend, 
who  paid  daily   visits  with   great  fear  and 
trembling  to  an  equally  worthy  lady,  divorced 
for  causes  not  laid  down  in  St.  Matthew,  that 
he  came  to  the  point  at  once,  and  rejoices  when 
he  hears  the  name  of  our  figure  mentioned. 
We  have  a  lingering  doubt,  whether  the 
example  just  given  be  not  somewhat  strained. 
Our  next  is  much  more  clear  and  certain. 
The  principle  we  are  illustrating,  is  of  special 
use  in  explaining   the   Mosaic   law,    which 
some  Lave  degi:ided  into  a  mere  civil  insti- 
tute, enjoining  nothing  but  overt  acts  and  a 
routine   of   external    observances.     Nothing 


TROPES    AND  FIGURES.  87 

seems  more  evident  than  that  in  the  great 
majority  of  cases,  the  legislator  is  giving 
examples,  leaving  the  generalization  to  the 
understanding  of  those  whom  he  addressed. 
Paul  was  decidedly  of  this  opinion,  as  ap- 
pears from  his  comment  on  the  precept. 
""  Thou  shaltnot  muzzle  the  ox  that  treadeth 
out  the  corn."  He  contends,  that  Moses  de- 
signed it  not  so  much  for  oxen  as  for  men, 
teaching  by  it,  that  the  labourer  is  worthy  of 
his  hire.  Nor  can  it  be  reasonably  doubted, 
that  the  command  not  to  ''  seethe  the  kid  in 
its  mother's  milk  " — not  to  "  plough  with  an 
ox  and  ass  together  " — not  to  "  sow  different 
seeds  in  the  same  ground,"  with  a  hundred 
others,  must  be  explained  on  the  same  prin- 
ciple. The  good  old  custom,  therefore,  of 
spiritualizing,  or  giving  moral  extent  to  the 
ten  commandments,  which  some  modern 
writers  object  to,  is  a  sound  one,  and  justified 
by  all  the  laws  of  interpretation.  The  Re- 
deemer has  given  a  most  beautiful  example 
of  it  in  his  sermon  on  the  mount.  This  sub- 
ject is  well  worth  the  student's  attention.  A 
habit  of  generalizing,  without  straining  or  do- 


88  TROPES    AND    FIGURES. 

ing  violence  to  Scripture — of  rising  from  par- 
ticulars to  great  catholic  principles,  which 
come  home  to  every  man's  business  and  bo- 
som, is  one  of  the  most  valuable  acquisitions 
he  can  make  in  his  theological  course. 

3.  Metaphor,  is  founded  on  the  resem- 
blance between  objects ;  being  the  substitu- 
tion of  one  thing  for  another,  which  is  like  it. 
When  I  say, ''  God  is  my  protector,"  I  ex- 
press the  thought  in  its  simplicity :  When 
I  sa)'-,  "  He  is  my  shield,"  I  clothe  it  in  me- 
taphor. In  no  figure  are  the  sacred  oracles 
so  rich  as  in  this.  But  little  need  be  said,  as 
there  is  seldom  any  difficulty  in  explaining 
it.  The  great  point  to  be  remembered  is, 
not  to  press  the  resemblance  beyond  the 
boundary  intended  by  the  author.  When 
Christ  declares,  that  he  will  come  as  a  thief, 
suddenness  of  appearance^  not  ivickedness  of 
purpose  is  the  thought  which  he  illustrates. 
Anthropopatheia  is  reducible  to  this  class, 
which  exhibits  the  Divine  Being,  as  clothed 
loitli  the  attributes,  and  performing  the  ac- 
tions of  men.  In  explaining  passages  of  an 
anthropopathie  character,  the  rule  is  plain. 


TROPES    AND    FIGURES.  89 

They  must  be  understood  in  a  way  suitable 
to  the  infinite  majesty  of  God,  and  purged 
from  everything  savouring  of  impurity  o!»jin- 
perfection.  His  "  eye,"  is  his  infinite  know- 
ledge :  his  "  arm,"  is  his  almighty  power : 
the  "  sounding  of  his  bowels,"  is  his  tender 
love  and  compassion  :  his  "  repentance,"  is 
his  purpose  to  change  the  course  of  his  pro- 
vidence for  good  and  sufficient  reasons, 
springing  out  of  the  moral  conduct  of  his 
creatures  :  he  is  "  angry,"  when  he  punishes 
the  sinner  ;  and  his  "  fury,"  paints  the  seve- 
rity of  their  doom. 

Prosopopoeia,  is  another  form  of  meta- 
phor, in  which  human  actions  and  life  are 
ascribed  to  inanimate  or  irrational  objects. 
Examples  are  very  frequent,  and  some  ex- 
ceedingly beautiful :  but  they  are  all  easily 
understood. 

4.  Allegory,  is  a  figure  in  which  one  thing 
is  expt^essed,  and  another  under^stood.  It 
may  be  defined  a  continued  metaphor,  or  an 
image  founded  on  resemblance,  carried  out 
into  a  variety  of  details,  for  the  purpose  of 
inculcating  some  moral  truth.     Nathan's  pa- 


90  TROPES    AND    FIGURES. 

rable  of  the  poor  man  and  his  ewe-lamb  ;  the 
description  of  the  vine  in  the  80lh  Psalm ; 
JodSthan's  apologue  of  the  election  of  a  king 
by  the  trees,  in  the  ixth  of  Judges,  and  Paul's 
representation  of  the  members  of  the  body  in 
1.  Cor.  xii,  are  fine  examples.  All  the  para- 
bles belong  to  this  class.  Their  only  pecu- 
liarity is,  that  they  narrate  a  series  of  ficti- 
tious events  ;  other  allegories  are  descripiwe. 
But  this  makes  no  difference  in  their  nature, 
or  the  laws  of  interpreting  them. 

Allegories  consist  of  two  parts  ;  the  sensi- 
ble image  or  similitude,  as  drawn  out  into  a 
series  of  imaginary  facts,  which  we  may  call 
the  shell:  and  the  doctrine  or  moral  truth 
illustrated,  which  may  be  called  the  kernel. 
The  latter,  is  of  course,  not  expressed,  being 
contained  in  the  shell,  which  must  be  broken 
before  we  become  its  masters.  Practice, 
however,  and  the  exercise  of  a  little  common 
sense,  makes  the  operation  a  very  easy  one. 
There  is  always  something  in  the  connec- 
tion, or  the  occasion,  or  the  accompanying 
remarks  of  the  speaker,  or  the  nature  of  the 
thing   itself,  which   informs   us  what  great 


TROPES    AND    FIGURES.  91 

thought  is  to  be  elucidated.  There  are  two 
important  rules  which  the  interpreter  must 
observe  in  relation  to  this  figure. 

1.  Never  seek  for  it ;  nor  turn  into  alle- 
gory what  admits  of  being  understood  in  a 
plain  and  obvious  sense.  The  rage  for  dis- 
covering mystical  significations  in  Scripture, 
is  one  of  the  worst  diseases  with  which  a 
young  student  can  be  infected.  It  has  led  to 
that  infinite  multitude  of  typcs^  which  disfi- 
gure the  writings  of  many  otherwise  excel- 
lent writers,  and  throw  a  darkness,  that  may 
be  felt  over  the  sermons  of  many  of  our 
preachers.  A  type  is  a  person  or  thing  in 
the  Old  Testament,  supposed  to  prefigure  a 
person  or  thing  in  the  New.  It  is,  therefore, 
a  divinely  appointed  practical  Allegory,  and 
was  designed  to  prepare  the  minds  of  those 
living  in  the  Theocracy,  for  the  farther  deve- 
lopments of  truth  which  should  characterize 
the  age  of  the  Messiah.  In  this  point  of  view, 
a  wise  and  well  arranged  system  of  types 
was  an  admirable  expedient.  They  illustra- 
ted, in  a  way  peculiarly  lively  and  pictu- 
resque, the  great  principles  of  moral  govern- 


92  TROPES   AND    FIGURES. 

ment,  which  remained  to  be  unfolded  in  the 
latter  day  ;  so  that  no  shock  should  be  given 
to  the  pious  nnind  by  their  unexpected  novel- 
ty. "  Sacrifices,"  made  the  people  familiar 
with  the  idea  of  substitution.  The  "  mercy 
seat,"  on  which  the  Divine  throne  was  erect- 
ed, yearly  sprinkled  with  blood,  was  a 
speaking  allegory,  from  which  they  could 
not  but  infer  something,  that  prepared  them 
for  the  Christian  doctrine  of  reconciliation. 
Their  water  lustrations  suggested  the  neces- 
sities of  moral  renovation.  The  like  may  be 
said  of  typical  persons.  The  royal  David, 
assisted  them  to  conceive  of  a  great  theo- 
cratic monarch,  whose  kingdom  was  to  be 
"  an  everlasting  kingdom,  and  of  whose  go- 
vernment there  should  be  no  end."  The 
mysterious  king  of  Salem,  so  abruptly  in- 
troduced in  patriarchal  history,  and  so  ab- 
ruptly withdrawn,  in  whom  the  attributes  of 
priesthood  and  royalty  were  so  strangely  com- 
bined, and  to  whom  Abraham  himself  paid 
homage,  was  well  calculated  to  arrest  the 
reflecting  spirit,  and  induce  the  suspicion  at 
least,  that  a  new  order  of  things  might  arise, 


TROPES    AND  FIGURES.  93 

which  would  exhibit  the  august  spectacle  of 
a  priest  upon  a  throne.  We  need  not  sup- 
pose that  they  perceived  the  full  significance 
of  these  symbolical  representations.  It  is 
enough  that  they  suggested  great  and  ina- 
portant  hints — seeds  of  truth,  rather  than 
truth  itself,  which  after  lying  buried  and  tor- 
pid in  the  depths  of  the  soul  during  the  long 
winter  of  the  ancient  economy,  quickened 
into  glorious  life,  *'  when  the  time  of  the 
singing  of  birds  was  come,  and  the  voice  of 
the  turtle  was  heard  in  their  land." 

If  now  the  question  is  asked,  how  far  the 
system  may  be  carried  out :  we  answer,  so 
far  as  it  pleases  God,  and  no  farther.  It  is 
his  prerogative  to  institute  ordinances  for  his 
church,  and  when  he  does,  he  lets  us  know 
it.  If  Samson  be  an  appointed  emblem  of 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  I  am  sure  that  I  shall 
find  it  in  the  Old  or  New  Testament ;  if  they 
be  silent  on  the  point,  all  his  strength  shall 
not  compel  my  assent.  I  have  no  talisman 
given  me,  with  which  I  can  go  into  the  sim- 
ple perspicuous  narratives  of  the  book  of 
God,  and  by  a  presto  passe,  turn  its  men  and 


94'  TROPES    AND    FIGURES. 

women  into  types  !  To  prove  their  exist- 
ence, much  more  must  be  done,  than  to 
show  that  one  object  on  some  points  resem- 
bles another.^  Mere  simiUtude  may  quahfy  for 
office,  but  cannot  possibly  induct  into  it,  else 
Capt.  Fluellen's  celebrated  theory  of  a  typi- 
cal connection  between  Alexander  the  Great, 
and  king  Harry  of  Monmouth,  would  be 
strictly  true,  being  based  on  indubitable  facts  : 
1st,  that  the  birth-place  of  both  commenced 
with  an  M.  ;  2d,  that  both  were  great  fight- 
ers ;  and  3d,  that  there  was  a  river  in  Mon- 
mouth and  also  a  river  in  Macedon,  though 
the  honest  gentlemen  had  forgotten  its  name. 
The  great  point  to  be  established,  is,  that 
the  likeness  was  designed  in  the  original  in- 
stitution. It  is  the  i^evious  purpose  and  in- 
ientioUy  which  constitute  the  whole  relation 
of  type  and  antitype.  Now  this  must  be 
proved,  and  there  is  only  one  way  of  doing  it. 
Show  me  from  Scripture  the  existence  of 
such  a  connection.  Whatever  persons  or 
things  in  the  Old  Testament  are  asserted  by 
Christ  or  his  Apostles  to  have  been  designed 
prefigurations   of   persons  or  things  in  the 


TROPES    AND    FIGT'RES.  95 

New,  I  accept.  But  if  you  only  presume 
ihe  fact  from  a  real  or  fancied  analogy,  you 
are  drawing  on  your  imagination,  and  assum- 
ing the  dangerous  liberty  of  speaking  for 
God. 

Nor  is  it  enough  to  quote  passages  from 
the  New  Testament  which  refer  to  incidents 
in  the  Old.  Many  facts  of  the  old  economy 
are  adduced  simply  as  happy  illustrations — 
to  adorn  or  enliven  a  sentiment,  not  to  prove 
it,  of  which  we  have  no  less  than  two  in- 
stances in  the  second  chapter  of  Matthew, — 
*'  The  voice  in  Rama,  lamentation  and  great 
mourning — Rachel  weeping  for  her  children, 
and  refusing  to  be  comforted,"  spoken  of  by 
Jeremiah,  was  the  mourning  of  the  Jewish 
mothers  when  separated  from  their  children 
on  the  way  to  Babylon.  The  evangelist  al- 
ludes to  that  catastrophe  as  resembling  the 
murder  of  the  infants  by  Herod,  and  says 
tliat  the  murder  was  a  fulfilment  of  it,  mean- 
ing nothing  more  than  that  the  one  illustrated 
the 'Other.  This  use  of  the  phrase  ottu^  TrXTipah 
is  known  to  every  scholar.  "  Any  thmg," 
as  Dr.  Bloomfield  observes,  "  may  be  said  to 


96  TROPES   AND    FIGURES. 

be  fulfilled,  if  it  admits  of  bein^  appropriately 
applied."  The  quotation  in  the  15th  verse, 
"  out  of  Egypt  have  I  called  my  son,"  is  a 
like  instance  of  accommodation.  The  de- 
parture of  Israel  from  Egypt  under  Moses,  of 
which  Hosea  speaks,  Hos.  xi.  1,  was  neither 
a  prophecy  nor  type  of  the  Redeemer's  brief 
residence  in  that  country.  But  there  was  a 
pleasing  and  interesting  coincidence,  which 
attracts  the  notice  of  the  Evangelist,  and  in- 
duces him  to  borrow  the  prophet's  words. 

The  consequence  of  neglecting  these  plain 
and  rational  principles,  may  be  seen  in  the 
writincrs  of  divines  without  number.  Larf^e 
folios  have  been  filled  with  types  and  anti- 
types, which  exist  only  in  the  brains  of  their 
authors.  The  facility  of  the  operation  great- 
ly recommends  it  to  many.  To  become  a 
good  Grecian,  and  skilful  collator  of  paral- 
lelisms, is  labour  indeed !  Nothing  more  easy 
than  to  lie  all  day  on  a  sofa,  tracing  like- 
nesses between  Delilah  and  Judas  Iscariot — 
Adam's  fig-leaves  and  the  works  of  the  law- 
It  is  also  very  convenient ;  for  each  sect  may 
provide  itself  with  its  own  typology,  from 


TROPES   AND    FIGURES.  97 

which,  as  from  a  fortress  built  in  air,  and 
therefore  beyond  the  reach  of  human  wea- 
pons, they  may  hurl  defiance  to  every  enemy. 
In  this  way,  Pope  Innocent  the  third  proved 
to  the  Emperor  of  Constantinople,  the  im- 
measurable superiority  of  his  Holiness  to  his 
Majesty.  God,  says  he,  made  two  great 
lights,  i.  e.  he  constituted  two  great  dignities 
— the  Papal  and  the  Royal.  The  greater  is 
the  Papal,  ruling  in  spirituals,  or  over  the 
day  :  the  lesser  is  the  Royal,  ruling  in  tem- 
porals, or  over  the  night.  From  which  it 
clearly  follows,  that  as  the  sun  is  superior  to 
the  moon,  so  the  Pope  is  exalted  above  kings ! 
This  was  not  bad.  What  his  majesty  re- 
plied we  cannot  say — though  doubtless  he 
contrived  some  method  of  turning  the  tables. 
The  scheme,  after  all,  in  matters  of  argu- 
ment at  least,  is  not  so  convenient  as  we  al- 
lowed it  to  be :  as  we  can  seldom  bring  the 
adversary  to  our  way  of  thinking  about  it, 
and  our  best  cases  may  be  so  easily  retorted. 
The  types  of  theologians  much  resemble  their 
little  namesakes  of  the  printing  office,  in  one 
respect ;  however  ingeniously  set,  one  stroke 
9 


98  TROPES    AND    FIGURES. 

of  a  mischievous  elbow  can  dash  them  all 
into  2Ji.  Those  who  desire  to  see  the  way 
in  which  the  subject  is  treated  by  some  of 
our  evangel"  ;al  divines,  may  look  into  "  Mc- 
Ewen  on  the  Types."  He  is  greatly  com- 
mended by  scm.e ;  and  we  would  not  deny 
him  the  praise  of  lively  fancy  and  sincere 
piety.  But  it  is  fancy  run  w^ild,  and  no  de- 
Igree  of  piety  can  give  respectability  to  non- 
sense. We  hold  an  interpretation  not  based 
on  principles,  to  be  an  unprincipled  interpre- 
tation, though  endorsed  by  all  the  saints  in 
the  calendar.  That  there  are  persons  and 
things  in  the  ancient  dispensation  intended  to 
be  prefigurative  of  persons  and  things  in  the 
new,  we  have  already  expressed  our  belieL 
We  go  on  solid  grounds  when  we  make  the 
assertion,  and  appeal  boldly  in  support  of  it 
to  the  "  Word."  But  we  will  not  desert  that 
light  for  ignes  fatui,  or  add  our  own  muddy 
inventions  to  divine  ordinances.  The  extra- 
vagances of  the  advocates  of  typology  have 
done  more  to  make  the  whole  doctrine  appear 
ridiculous  than  all  the  sneers  and  wit  of  infi- 
delity. 


TROPES    AND    FIGURES.  99 

2d,  As  we  are  not  to  seek  for  Allegory,  so 
we  must  consider  only  the  parts  which  arc 
connected  ivith  the  doctrine  taught — paying 
no  regard  to  unessential  circumstances. — 
Having  mastered  the  scope  of  the  writer,  we 
must  interpret  so  much  of  the  figure  as  di- 
rectly relates  to  it,  and  no  more.  The  remark 
is  of  special  use  in  explaining  parables,  though 
it  applies  also  to  types.  The  correspondence 
between  them  and  the  antitype  must  never 
be  pressed  beyond  the  manifest  design  of 
God  in  establishing  the  relation.  Levitical 
sacrifices  prefigured  the  great  atonement  of 
the  Redeemer  ;  but  we  must  not  turn,  as 
some  have  done,  the  tongs  and  fire-shovels 
of  the  altar  into  symbols.  The  High  Priest 
typified  the  person  of  Christ ;  but  it  v^ould 
be  mere  trifling,  to  discover  profound  mean- 
ings in  every  part  of  the  sacerdotal  dress. — 
With  regard  to  parables,  the  rule  must  never 
be  lost  sight  of.  Many  circumstances  in  them 
are  only  added  to  give  an  air  of  probability, 
or  render  them  more  lively  and  interesting. — 
They  are  (to  use  the  beautiful  expression  of 
Solomon)  ''  golden  apples  in  silver  baskets  :" 


100  TROPES    AND   FIGURES. 

As  interpreters,  we  have  concern  only  with 
the  apples.  Circumstances,  in  short,  form 
what  may  be  called  the  machinery  of  the  par- 
able, and  therefore  do  not  always  have  weight 
in  the  investigation  of  its  meaning. 

The  parable  of  the  ten  virgins  for  instance, 
is  designed  to  teach  the  folly  of  those  who 
neglect  preparation  for  their  Redeemer's  com- 
ing. Virgins  are  selected,  not  on  account  of 
their  purity,  but  because  virgins  in  those  days 
played  an  important  part  at  bridals  ;  and  a 
bridal  feast  was  made  the  basis  of  the  fable. 
The  virginity  therefore  of  the  personages  is 
a  mere  circumstance,  which  teaches  nothing. 
So  is  the  distinction  into  ''  five  wise,"  and 
"  five  foolish."  Nothing  can  be  inferred  as 
to  the  comparative  number  of  nominal  and 
sincere  professors  of  religion  in  the  world. 
The  two  classes  are  equalized,  to  guard 
against  all  speculations  on  a  subject  foreign 
to  the  speaker's  object.  The  "  sleeping"  of 
the  wise  virgins  is  another  mere  circum- 
stance, introduced  to  bring  about  the  catas- 
trophe in  a  natural  wa)^ — not  to  teach  the 
dangerous  doctrine  that  the  best  Christians 


TROPES  AND    FIGURES.  101 

fail  in  spiritual  vigilance,  and  are  very  liable 
to  be  taken  by  surprise,  when  the  master 
calls  them.  The  truth  is,  that  their  sleeping 
was  designed  to  be  rather  complimentary  than 
otherwise,  as  it  brought  out  the  fact  that  they 
were  provided  and  ready.  They  had  noth- 
ing to  fear  :  a  little  refreshment  therefore  was 
not  amiss,  especially  as  they  had  no  duties  to 
perform  until  the  arrival  of  the  procession. 

The  parable  of  the  rich  man  and  Lazarus, 
is  another  example.  The  angels  who  carry 
the  soul  of  Lazarus  to  Abraham's  bosom, 
probably  belong,  as  well  as  Abraham's  bosom 
itself,  to  the  machinery,  and  nothing  is  dedu- 
cible  from  it.  The  representation  oi  the  rich 
man  and  Abraham  being  in  the  same  region, 
and  within  sight  of  each  other,  is  an  image 
taken  from  the  ancient  idea  of  Hades,  and 
must  not  be  listed  to  prove  that  the  souls  of 
the  blessed  hold  intercourse  with  those  of  the 
wicked  in  another  world. 

Great  prudence  therefore,  and  good  taste 

are  needful,  in  explaining  these  interesting 

compositions.     Without  such  qualifications, 

and  foolishly  ambitious  of  making  every  thing 

9* 


102  HEBRAISMS. 

out  of  any  thing,  interpreters  have  often  made 
them  ridiculous.  What  can  be  more  simple 
and  intelligible  than  the  parable  of  the  good 
Samaritan,  which  so  beautifully  inculcates 
universal  benevolence  !  It  is  absolutely  trans- 
parent !  Yet  in  the  hands  of  some,  it  turns 
out  a  perfect  riddle,  where  the  true  signifi- 
cance is,  not  obscured,  but  utterly  lost.  The 
man  who  fell  among  thieves,  is  the  sinner ; 
the  thieves,  are  the  devil  and  his  angels ; 
the  priest  who  passed  by  on  the  other  side, 
is  the  law ;  the  Levite  is  legal  obedience. 
The  good  Samaritan  is  Christ ;  the  oil  is 
grace  ;  the  wine  comfort  from  the  promises  ; 
the  inn-keeper  is  the  Christian  Ministry  ;  the 
coming  again  is  death,  judgment,  and  eterni- 
ty. All  this  may  be  very  pious  ;  but  we  re- 
peat our  maxim,  that  no  piety  can  give  re- 
spectabihty  to  nonsense. 


RULE  VIII. 

Attend  carefully  to  Hebrew  and  Hebrais- 
tic idioms.     In  reading  the  Bible,  never  for- 


HEBRAISMS.  103 

get  tliat  its  language,  in  every  thing  which  dis- 
tinguishes one  from  another,  is  at  variance 
with  your  own.  That  this  holds  true  of  the  lan- 
guage of  the  Old  Testament,  no  one  doubts  ; 
but  the  remark  equally  applies  to  that  of  the 
New.  In  its  use  of  words,  its  grammar,  and 
syntactical  constructions,  it  has  many  of  the 
peculiarities  of  its  oriental  sister  ;  so  that  its 
authors  may  be  said  without  much  exaggera- 
tion, while  they  spoke  in  Greek  to  have 
thought  in  Hebrew.  It  could  not  be  other- 
wise ;  an  impure  Hebrew  being  their  native 
tongue,  and  their  Greek  style  being  formed 
by  the  constant  reading  of  the  Septuagint, 
which  was  an  extremely  literal  translation  of 
the  Old  Testament  into  that  language.  There 
is  no  reason  to  believe,  that  any  of  them  ex- 
cept Paul  had  ever  read  a  single  Greek  au- 
thor. The  student  should  be  mindful  of  this, 
and  ^eep  his  Old  Testament  and  Septuagint 
always  before  him.  A  few  examples  of  the 
Hebraising  style  shall  be  given  :  details  would 
fill  a  volume. 

One  striking  instance,  is  the  use  of  the 
Genitive,  which  has  a  much  more  extensive 


104  HEBRAISMS. 

signification  than  is  customary  with  us  ;  com- 
prehending a  greater  variety  of  relations  5 
and  often  quaUfying  the  noun  which  governs 
them  as  adjectives.  This  often  occurs  in  the 
New  Testament.  In  1  Cor.  i.  5,  Paul  says, 
the  "  sufferings  of  Christ  abound  in  us."  He 
means  the  sufferings  not  undergone  by  Christ, 
but  which  we  undergo  for  him.  Sufferings 
for  the  sake  of  Christ  would  be  the  proper 
English  expression.  The  same  is  meant  by 
the  Apostle,  when  he  calls  himself  ''  a  pri- 
soner of  Christ."  He  was  a  captive,  on  ac- 
count of  him.  In  various  chapters  of  the 
Epistle  to  the  Romans,  he  speaks  of  the 
righteousness  of  God,  by  which  he  plainly 
signifies,  not  the  excellency  of  the  divine  na- 
ture, but  the  righteousness  by  which  the  sin- 
ner is  justified,  and  which  he  names  "  God's 
righteousness,"  because  he  graciously  pro- 
vided and  accepts  it.  In  the  same  way, 
"  horn  of  salvation"  signifies  a  horn  (the  em- 
blem of  power  among  the  Hebrews  borrowed 
from  their  pastoral  life)  which  is  the  cause  of 
salvation  ;  in  other  words,  (when  stripped  of 
its  orientalism,)  a  mighty  author  of  deliver^ 


HEBRAISMS.  105 

ance.  The  Hebrew  mode  of  employing  ge- 
nitives for  adjectives  is  also  common.  The 
Apostle  addressing  the  Thessalonians,  speaks 
of  their  "  patience  of  hope."  He  means  pa- 
tient hope.  ''  Glory  of  his  power,"  is  equal 
to  glorious  power. 

The  Hebrews'  were  fond  of  giving  empha- 
sis to  what  they  said  by  repetition.  Jer.  xxii. 
29,  "  Oh  earth,  earth,  earth,  hear  the  word  of 
the  Lord."  Isa.  vi.  3,  ''  Holy,  holy,  holy,  is 
the  Lord  God  Almighty  ;"  from  which  many 
have  drawn  a  prodigiously  silly  argument  for 
the  Trinity. 

Hendiadys  is  the  joining  of  two  words  hy 
the  copulative,  while  a  single  thing  is  assert- 
ed ;  the  one  being  generally  employed  as  a 
genitive,  or  adjective  :  Acts  xxiii.  6,  "  of  the 
hope  and  resurrection  of  the  dead  I  am  called 
in  question."  This  is  a  striking  instance. 
He  means  the  hope  of  the  resurrection  of  the 
dead.  In  Acts  xiv.  13,  it  is  said  that  the 
"  priest  of  Jupiter  brought  oxen  and  garlands 
to  the  gates."  The  garlands  were  upon  the 
oxen  :  croivned  with  garlands,  therefore,  ex- 
presses the  idea.     Many  judicious  commen- 


106  HEBRAISMS. 

tators  explain  by  this  peculiarity  the  phrase 
in  Matt.  iii.  11,  "  He  shall  baptize  you  with 
the  Holy  Ghost  and  with  fire  :"  i.  e.  with  the 
burning  Spirit — with  him  who  is  powerful, 
penetrating,  and  all -purifying,  as  the  element 
of  fire. 

There  are  singular  examples  of  disregard 
to  the  regular  construction  of  sentences  in 
both  the  Old  and  New  Testaments,  which  in 
a  classical  Greek  writer  would  be  offensive, 
but  in  our  authors  is  positively  agreeable  ; 
being  so  redolent  of  primitive  simpHcity.  In 
Gal.  iii.  4,  5,  6  verses,  we  have  a  series  of 
propositions,  which  seem  to  defy  all  the  ef- 
forts of  interpreters  to  disembroil  them. — 
Nothing  is  more  common,  than  for  the  Apos- 
tle to  commence  a  thought  in  a  particular 
way,  and  conclude  it  in  a  manner  entirely 
different,  as  if  he  had  forgotten  his  beginning. 
Thus  he  commences  the  well-known  com- 
parison between  Adam  and  Moses,  in  Rom.  v. 
with  the  following  sentence,  or  rather  part  of 
one,  "  Wherefore  as  by  one  man  sin  entered 
into  the  world,  and  death  by  sin,  and  so  death 
passed  upon  all  men,  for  all  have  sinned." — 


HEBRAISMS.  107 

He  thus  gives  us  reason  to  expect  a  reddi- 
tive  or  corresponding  clause  to  be  introduced 
by  the  usual  formula,  so,  or  thus.  None  oc- 
curs ;  and  after  examining  what  follows,  we 
are  obliged  to  conclude  that  in  the  onward 
impetuosity  of  his  movement,  he  has  lost 
sight  of  his  starting  point — without  however 
forgetting  the  thought,  to  which  he  does  am- 
ple justice. 

But  it  is  i?i  the  use  of  verbs,  that  the  He- 
braism of  Scripture  appears  most  clearly. — 
They  ^'ery  frequently  express  not  the  action 
itself,  but  something  approaching  or  allied  to 
it — the  desire  or  endeavour  to  perform  it — its 
commencement,  or  the  giving  occasion  to  it ; 
its  permission,  or  the  obligation  to  its  perform- 
ance. We  shall  as  usual  give  some  examples. 
Things  are  said  to  be  done,  where  there  is 
only  endeavou?'  or  desire.  Thus  Reuben  is 
said  to  "  have  delivered  Joseph  out  of  the 
hands  of  his  brethren."  He  attempted  his 
deliverance,  but  succeeded  very  partially. — 
''  Whoso  findeth  his  life,"  says  our  Redeem- 
er, "  shall  lose  it :"  i.  e.  seeks  to  find  it,  is 
unduly  anxious  for  its  preservation. 


103  HEBRAISMS. 

Sometimes  verbs  only  intimate  that  the 
subject  gave  occasion  to  the  action.  In  Jer. 
xxxviii.  23,  God  says  to  King  Zedekiah, 
"  thou  shalt  be  taken  by  the  hand  of  the  king 
of  Babylon,  and  thou  shalt  cause  Jerusalem 
to  be  burnt  with  fire."  The  conduct  of  the 
unhappy  monarch  should  lead  to  this  catas- 
trophe. "  The  wrath  of  man,"  says  the 
Psalmist,  "  shall  praise  God" — not  praise 
him,  but  be  an  occasion  of  praise.  This  ex- 
plains the  apparent  discrepancy  between 
Matthew  and  Luke,  in  their  account  of  the 
purchase  of  the  field  of  blood.  The  former 
states  that  it  was  bought  by  the  priests  and 
elders  with  the  thirty  pieces  of  silver,  which 
Judas  Iscariot  had  returned  to  them.  The 
latter,  in  Acts  i.  18,  says,  "  this  man  (Judas) 
purchased  a  field  with  the  reward  of  iniquity." 
The  fact  was,  that  he  gave  occasion  for  the 
transaction,  and  the  historian  describes  him 
as  the  agent. 

Frequently,  words  expressing  the  power 
of  doing  actions  only  mean  facility  ;  and  the 
denial  of  power  signifies  nothing  more  tlian 
difficultij.     In  Ruth  iv.  6,  the  near  kinsman 


HEBRAISMS.  109 

of  Elimelech  says,  **  I  cannot  redeem  his  in- 
heritance."    He  could  have  done  it,  for  he 
was   evidently  a  man  of  property,   but  not 
without  considerable  sacrifices.     The  house- 
holder in  our  Lord's  parable,  of  whom  a  friend 
solicits  admission  at   midnight,  replies  that 
"  the  door  is  shut,  the  children  with  him  in 
bed,   and  that  he  cannot  rise."     He   meant 
that  rising  was  extremely  inconvenient.     So 
it  is  said  of  our  Lord,  in  Mark  vi.  5,  that  he 
could  do  no  mighty  works  in  a  particular  dis- 
trict, because  of  their  unbelief.    He  could  not 
with  pleasure  and  satisfaction.     It  was  pain- 
ful to  him  to   throw  his  pearls  before  such 
swine.     The  Pelagians  appeal  to  this  idiom, 
when  they  attempt  to  explain  the  sinner's  in- 
ability to  do  what  is  good.     He  cannot ;  be- 
cause in  consequence  of  the  strength  of  ani- 
mal impulses,  and  of  bad  education,  commen- 
cing at  the  mother's  breast,  it  is  extremely, 
and  in  the  last  degree,  difficult.     Their  en- 
lightened opponent  meets  them,  not  by  ring- 
ing changes  on  the  words  ''  can,"  and  ''  can- 
not," violently  torn  from  their  connection,  but 
by  a  careful  study  of  the  passages  in  which 
10 


110  HEBRAISMS. 

they  are  found,  directed  by  the  laws  of  sound 
interpretation. 

Words  expressing  actions  are  often  only  de- 
claratory— denoting  the  recognition  of  them 
as  having  been  performed,  or  about  to  be. — 
"  Behold,"  says  Isaac  to  Esau,  "  I  have  made 
Jacob  thy  lord,  and  all  his  brethren  have  I 
given  to  him  for  servants."  The  only  agency 
of  the  venerable  patriarch  in  this  transaction 
consisted  in  announcing  it.  He  intended  to 
say  "  I  have  declared  Jacob  thy  lord."  In  a 
like  manner,  Jeremiah  v\ras  set  up  by  God 
*'  over  the  nations  to  root  out,  pull  down,  and 
destroy."  The  Prophet  was  not  a  military 
conqueror  ;  but  as  a  divine  messenger,  he  de- 
clared what  should  be  accomplished  by  the 
hand  of  Nebuchadnezzar.  So  also  when  the 
priest  saw  on  a  man  signs  of  leprosy,  he  was 
ordered  to  '*  pollute  or  make  him  unclean," 
Levit.  xiii.  3.  The  meaning  is  plain  enough. 
He  was  to  jrronounce  him  unclean,  as  it  is 
expressed  in  our  English  version,  which  very 
properly  rejects  the  grosser  Hebraisms. 

The  7th  verse  of  the  2d  Psalm,  receives 
great  light  from  this  declaratory  use  of  verbs. 


HEBRAISMS.  Ill 

"  The  Lord  hath  said  unto  me,  thou  art  my 
son,  this  day  have  I  begotten  thee."  Most 
of  the  old  divines  supposed  that  David  is 
here  describing  the  actual  generation  of  the 
son  from  the  father  ;  having  in  thought  car- 
ried himself  back  to  a  point  in  eternity  vv^hen 
the  generation  was  supposed  to  take  place. 
The  words  "  this  day,"  refer  to  that  imagi- 
nary point.  The  view  cannot  be  sustained, 
and  among  other  reasons  for  this,  that  though 
certain  German  theologues  of  our  times  have 
invited  themselves  to  be  present  at  the  gene- 
ration— not  only  of  the  son  but  the  father 
from  the  great  bosom  of  Nichts  ;  nothing  of 
the  kind  is  found  in  sacred  Scriptures.  We 
do  not  believe  that  the  most  raging  delirium 
could  have  made  the  pious,  simple-hearted 
Psalmist  imagine  to  himself  a  God  beginning 
to  he — or  a  God  half  formed.  The  word 
"begotten,"  is  to  be  taken  declaratively. — 
The  point  of  time  assumed  by  the  writer  in 
this  noble  Messianic  ode,  is  the  resurrection 
of  its  subject  from  the  dead.  God  is  repre- 
sented as  addressing  him  on  the  occasion — 
presenting  him  to  the  admiring  gaze  of  the 


112  HEBRAISMS. 

whole  moral  universe  ;  and  acknowledging 
the  endearing  eternal  relation  of  which,  on 
that  day,  he  had  given  such  magnificent 
illustration.  The  clause  may  be  thus  briefly- 
paraphrased  :  "  Thou  art  my  only  begotten 
and  eternal  son.  I  here  avow  thee  to  be 
such,  and  require  all  my  subjects  to  honour 
thee  as  partner  of  my  throne."  With  per- 
fect propriety  therefore,  the  Apostle  connects 
the  passage  with  our  Lord's  resurrection  : 
Rom.  i.  4,  "  declared  to  be  the  son  of  God 
with  power  by  his  resurrection  from  the 
dead." 

The  last  example  which  we  shall  give,  is 
of  words  signifying  action,  being  used  to  de- 
note the  permission  of  it ;  as  in  the  prayer 
of  David,  Psalm  cxix.  31,  "I  have  adhered 
to  thy  testimonies,  put  me  not  to  shame." 
A  more  striking  example  we  have  in  Isaiah 
Ixii.  17,  "  O  Lord,  why  hast  thou  made  us 
to  err  from  thy  ways,  and  hardened  our 
heart  from  thy  fear."  In  this  passage  and 
some  others,  the  English  reader  is  startled 
at  discoverincr  indications  of  the  horrible  doc- 

a 

trine,    that  God  exercises  a  positive  agency 


HEBRA.ISMS.  113 

in  the  production   of  moral  evil.     Thus  we 
are  taught  to  pray,  that  he   "  may  not  lead 
us   into  temptation  :"    He  "  hardened  Pha- 
raoh's  heart :"  He  ''  shuts  the  eyes  of  sin- 
ners, and  makes  their  ears  heavy,  lest  they 
see  v^^ith  their  eyes  and  hear  with  their  ears." 
They  contain,  however,   nothing   alarming  ; 
the  whole  doctrine  which  they  teach,  being 
approved  by  the  light  of  reason  itself ;  that 
God,  in  righteous  judgment  gives  the  pre- 
sumptuous  sinner  up  to  his    own  evil  im- 
pulses, permitting  him   to  ''  harden  himself 
even  under  those  means  which  he  useth  for  the 
softening  of  others."*     Misapprehension  of 
this  idiom  led  many  excellent  men  in  New- 
England,  to  profess  without  scruple  or  limi- 
tation, their  belief,  that  unholy  volitions  were 
the  immediate  effect  of  divine  agency.     The 
race  is  nearly  extinct,  having  been  succeed- 
ed (as  might   be  expected  from  the  usual 
course  of  things  in  the  world),  by  a  genera- 
tion who  seem  afraid  to  trust  the  Supreme 
Being  with  any  agency  even  in  good.     We 

•  Westminster  ConfeBsion  of  Faith. 
10* 


114  HEBRAISMS. 

have  always  reverenced  those  worthy  men. 
We  especially  admire  that  iron  intrepidity, 
which  enabled  them  to  look  in  the  face  and 
take  to  their  bosoms  so  ugly  a  monster, 
from  simple  regard  to  the  divine  will.  Men 
who  could  sacrifice  to  faith  the  strongest 
moral  instincts  of  their  nature,  were  prepared 
for  any  thing.  Yet  after  all — in  the  matter 
of  expounding  Scripture,  heroism  is  a  poor 
substitute  for  Hebrew. 

The  student  will  be  making  small  progress 
in  the  knowledge  of  his  Bible,  who  does  not 
soon  find  that  we  have  been  giving  only  a  few 
specimens  of  its  phraseology.  Let  him  devote 
his  best  powers  of  attention  to  it :  for  there  is 
not  a  tree  in  the  garden  which  yields  more 
precious  fruit.  What  especially  recommends 
it,  is  the  fact,  that  in  exploring  the  Hebra- 
isms of  the  Bible,  we  go  to  the  very  fountain 
head  of  knowledge  concerning  the  meaning 
of  those  important  and  constantly  recurring 
words  by  which  the  New  Testament  writers 
describe  the  fundamental  truths  of  Christiani- 
ty ;  such  as  faith^  propitiation,  redemption, 
atonement,    church,    baptism,   regeneration, 


PROPHECY.  115 

justification  and  righteousness.  Let  a  young 
man  tolerably  versed  in  the  languages,  sit 
down  as  ignorant  as  a  babe  of  the  gospel, 
and  study  these  words  carefully  as  he  finds 
them  in  his  Hebrew  and  Greek  Old  Testa- 
ment, with  no  other  human  aid  but  a  good 
dictionary  and  concordance ;  we  promise 
him  with  unbounded  confidence,  that  he  will 
obtain  an  infinitely  clearer  notion  of  them  in 
a  single  week,  than  by  reading  five  hundred 
folios  of  polemic  divinity. 


RULE  IX. 

Much  of  Scripture  being  Prophetical^  u)e 
should  acquaint  ourselves  with  the  nature 
and  laws  of  that  kind  of  composition.  This 
is  far  from  easy.  No  departnaent  of  theology 
has  occasioned  so  much  perplexity  to  serious 
inquirers,  and  the  subject  is  still  beset  with 
difficulties,  which  we  have  httle  hope  will 
soon  be  removed.  God  has  suffered  clouds 
and  darkness  to  rest  on  it  for  the  wisest  rea- 
sons, some  of  which  are  obvious.     He  would 


116  PROPHECY. 

not  deprive  his  Church  of  the  privilege  which 
ehe  has  enjoyed  in  every  age  and  place,  of 
walking  by  faith.  He  would  not  by  exhibit- 
ing a  clear  picture  of  the  future,  disturb  the 
freedom  of  his  creatures,  and  the  natural 
course  of  human  events  :  in  short,  he  would 
teach,  that  our  religion  provides  other  busi- 
ness for  us,  than  to  indulge  a  childish  cu- 
riosity as  to  "  times  and  seasons."  We  would 
not  therefore  encourage  the  student  to  specu- 
late much  on  this  subject.  The  predictions 
which  have  been  fulfilled,  especially  those 
accomplished  in  the  advent  of  our  Redeemer, 
deserve  all  attention — being  the  strongest 
confirmation  of  the  truth  of  our  holy  religion, 
and  arguments  of  resistless  force  against  the 
Infidel.  As  to  futurity — let  the  "  sapphire 
throne,"  borne  by  the  flaming  Cherubim, 
take  its  own  mighty  course.  There  is  a 
*'  living  Spirit  in  the  wheels,"  who  keeps  his 
own  counsel,  and  seems,  if  we  may  judge 
from  the  past  success  of  Apocalyptic  com- 
mentators, to  treat  with  very  little  respect  the 
numerous  attempts  to  advise  him.  Scan  as 
curiously  as  you  will,  the  car  of  Providence 


PROPHECY.  117 

in  its  magnificent  progress  through  the  earth  : 
but  choose  wisely  your  part  of  observation, 
and  by  all  means  mount  up  behind! 

The  following  hints  on  the  general  subject 
of  Prophecy  may  be  of  use. 

1st.  Remember  that  the  dictioji  of  this 
fart  of  Scripture  is  intensely  poetical.  Not 
only  were  its  authors  poets  in  the  common 
sense  of  the  word,  but  in  its  richest  and  no- 
blest acceptation.  In  splendour  of  imagination 
— in  the  gorgeous  colouring  which  they  throw 
over  every  thing  they  describe — in  boldness 
of  imagery  and  enthusiastic  glow  of  feeling, 
they  excel  all  other  authors.  How  miserably 
such  noble  spirits  will  be  explained  by  those 
who  treat  their  productions  as  if  they  were 
discourses  on  History  or  Civil  Government, 
we  need  not  say.  Quite  as  little  may  be  ex- 
pected from  those,  who  discover  in  their 
writings  a  dark  and  tangled  forest  of  hiero- 
glyphics ;  insist  that  every  image  is  a  defi- 
nite symbol  of  invariable  signification ;  and 
actually  turn  the  noblest  creations  of  genius 
into  an  Egyptian  alphabet,  of  which  these 
great    Champollions    have    been    fortunate 


118  PROPHECY. 

enough  to  discover  the  key  that  enables  them 
to  decipher  the  most  crabbed  page  in  the 
book  of  destiny  ! 

2d,  They  ivere  while  composing  their  pre- 
dictions in  a  state  of  ecstasy  or  high  super- 
natural excitement,  produced  immediately 
by  the  inspiring  Spirit.  The  influence  they 
were  under,  we  have  reason  to  think,  was  of 
a  much  more  engrossing  and  controlling 
character,  than  that  which  illuminated  the 
minds  of  the  Apostles.  The  latter,  while 
they  thought  the  thoughts  and  spoke  the 
words  of  God,  retained  all  their  mental  ac- 
tivity and  self-command.  Their  ideas  seem 
to  have  risen  spontaneously,  according  to  the 
laws  of  association,  nor  do  we  discover  any 
traces  of  a  compulsory  necessity,  in  the  elec- 
tion of  some,  and  the  rejection  of  others.  No 
enlightened  reader  of  Paul  for  instance,  can 
doubt,  that  he  thought  out  every  thing  he 
said,  as  fully  as  if  he  had  not  been  under 
heavenly  influence.  His  personality  mingles 
itself  with  every  sentiment  he  utters.  He 
sends  courteous  salutations  to  private  friends, 
describes  his  feelings  on  hearing  favourable 


PROPHECY.  119 

or  painful  accounts  of  them,  reminds  his 
young  favourite  Timothy  of  his  ill  health, 
speaks  of  a  certain  ^'  cloak"  which  he  had 
left  at  Troas,  "  as  also  the  parchments,'* 
hopes  to  visit  some  of  them,  though  he  is  not 
certain  ;  nay,  there  are  strong  indications  in 
one  or  two  cases,  of  his  concluding  a  letter, 
and  then  returning  to  it  for  the  purpose  of 
adding  something  new. 

With  the  prophets  it  was  different.  They 
"  were  carried  away,"  as  the  Apostle  Peter 
expresses  it,  by  the  inspiring  God,  and  seem 
rather  to  be  lictcd  on,  than  voluntary  agents. 
Hence  those  various  expressions  which  re- 
present "the  hand  of  the  Lord  as  coming 
upon  them,"  and  their  yielding  to  his  influ- 
ence as  something  involuntary  on  their  part, 
accompanied  with  a  feeling  of  horror  and 
great  darkness,  ar.'  sometimes  a  falling  to 
the  ground:  Gen.  xv.  12;  Num.  xxiv.  4.; 
1  Sam.  xix.  20.  This  is,  of  course,  to  be 
understood  comi  '.ratively  ;  for  we  have  al- 
ready observed,  that  even  prophecy  did  not 
entirely  paralyze  reason  and  self-conscious- 
ness.    But  ihey  were  certainly  wrought  upon 


120  PROPHECY. 

in  a  much  more  powerful  manner,  than  the 
other  holy  men  who  were  honoured  with  a 
divine  afflatus.  Though  not  mere  machines, 
nor  agitated  with  a  blind  fury  like  the  ancient 
Pythia  of  Delphos,  the}?-  were  yet  not  entirely 
themselves.  The  powers  of  perception  and 
volition  were  for  a  time  partially  suspended, 
and  their  minds  became  so  many  placid  mir- 
rors, from  which  were  reflected  the  pure 
rays  of  heavenly  truth. 

3d.  In  this  state,  they  saio  objects  as  pre- 
sent to  them.  The  various  incidents  and 
transactions  which  were  revealed,  imprinted 
themselves  vividly  on  their  imaginations  and 
with  all  the  force  of  living  truth,  so  that  they 
possessed  an  ideal  reality,  similar  to  that 
which  objects  have  in  dreams.  Hence  the  fre- 
quency with  which  they  are  called  "  Seers," 
and  their  revelations  "  visions."  Thus  Ba- 
laam, who  was  doubtless  a  true  prophet,  de- 
scribes himself,  as  "  the  man  whose  eyes  are 
opened,  who  heard  the  words  of  God,  who 
saw  the  vision  of  the  Almighty,  having  fallen 
upon  the  ground."  Similar  were  the  revela- 
tions of  Isaiah  :  **  In  the  year  that  king  Uz- 


PROPHECY.  121 

ziah  died,"  he  says,  "  /  saio — the  Lord  sitting 
upon  a  throne,  high  and  Hfted  up,  and  his 
train  filled  the  temple."'  On  another  occa- 
sion, he  sees — a  hero  marching  forward  in 
splendid  apparel,  stained  with  the  blood  of 
conquered  enemies,  and  exclaims  in  admira- 
tion, as  if  personally  addressing  him  :  "  Who 
is  this  that  cometh  from  Edom  with  died  gar- 
ments from  Bozrah,  that  is  glorious  in  his 
apparel,  travelling  in  the  greatness  of  his 
strength  ?"  Ezekiel,  when  the  hand  of  the 
Lord  was  on  him,  '*  saw  and  passed  through 
a  valley  of  dry  bones,"  which,  after  being 
addressed  by  the  prophet  at  the  divine  com- 
mandment, "  came  together,  bone  to  bone, 
and  the  breath  came  into  them,  and  they 
stood  up  an  exceeding  great  army."  Habak- 
kuk  stands  upon  his  watch-tower,  to  see — 
what  God  will  say  and  exhibit  to  him.  These 
were  not  rare  and  isolated  cases.  They 
were  of  a  more  striking  character  than  many, 
but  they  illustrate  the  general  mode  in  which 
the  prophetic  mind  was  affected.  Li  short, 
we  may  consider  the  future  events  predicted, 
as  a  large  and  magnificent  'panorama^  en- 
11 


122  PROPHECY. 

compassing  the  sacred  visionary  on  every 
side,  and  becoming  for  a  time  his  whole  world 
of  being,  in  which  he  breathes,  and  moves, 
as  if  in  his  proper  home. 

He  did  not,  however,  see  them  in  their 
strict  relations  to  each  other,  nor  in  their 
chronological  connection.  God  did  not  think 
fit  to  exhibit  a  clear  and  perfect  map,  for  wise 
reasons.  Each  saw  pieces,  inemhra  disjecta 
of  the  mighty  whole  :  but  in  no  one  place,  do 
we  find  a  prophet  giving  a  symmetrical  view 
of  the  entire  compass  of  a  subject.  Some- 
times, we  find  a  rich  delineation  of  the  person 
of  Christ ;  at  others,  a  description  of  his  king- 
dom and  the  glories  of  his  reign.  Here,  note 
is  taken  of  him,  as  meek,  gentle,  compas- 
sionate, who  *'  will  not  break  the  bruised 
reed,  nor  quench  the  smoking  flax."  There, 
he  is  seen  striking  through  kings  in  the  day 
of  his  wrath,  filling  the  places  with  dead 
bodies,  and  wounding  the  head  over  many 
countries.  Some  prophets,  say  not  a  word 
of  his  humiliation  and  cruel  sufferings — Mal- 
achi  for  example.  Only  two,  advert  to  his 
remarkable  forerunner.   Sometimes  the  vision 


PROPHECY.  123 

is  sad  and  melancholy,  exhibiting  the  rejec 
tion  of  the  Jews  on  account  of  their  unbelief, 
and  their  utter  dissolution  as  a  people.  At 
others,  all  is  joy  and  sunshine.  The  city  is 
rebuilt,  the  sanctuary  is  restored,  all  kings 
of  the  earth  bring  their  treasures  to  it,  and 
the  ransomed  of  the  Lord  return  with  songs 
and  everlasting  joy  upon  their  heads.  This 
fragmentary  character  of  prophecy,  is  a  very 
striking  and  important  one.  The  want  of 
duly  considering  it,  is  the  principal  cause  of 
those  complaints  we  often  hear,  especially 
from  infidels,  concerning  the  darkness  of  this 
part  of  revelation.  Were  such  to  sit  down, 
and  carefully  unite  the  scattered  pieces  into 
a  whole,  they  would  be  astonished  to  find 
how  clearly,  as  well  as  fully  and  consistently, 
the  Christian  Saviour  is  delineated. 

Equally  deserving  notice,  is  the  fact,  that 
they  seldom  'perceive  objects  as  related  to 
each  other  in  time.  The  reason  has  been 
already  stated.  They  were  in  the  midst  of 
what  they  saw,  like  a  man  in  a  dream.  The 
events  of  the  far  distant  future  were  so  many 
present  realities,  on  which  they  gazed  with 


124  PROPHECY. 

terror  or  delight ;  unsuspicious,  probably, 
that  ages  would  elapse  before  the  fulfilment. 
Thus  Isaiah,  chap.  ix.  5,  speaks  of  Messiah 
as  if  already  born,  and  entc ving  into  his  king- 
dom. "  Unto  us  a  child  is  born,  unto  us  a 
Son  is  given,  and  his  n'^^me  is  called  Won- 
derful, Counsellor,  the  Mighty  God."  In 
chap,  xlii.l,  He  directly  points  to  him  :  "  Be- 
hold my  servant  whom  I  uphold,  mine  elect 
in  whom  my  soul  delightelh."  Instances 
of  this  are  numberless.  It  is  not  surprising, 
therefore,  that  events  most  widely  separated 
from  each  other,  should  be  blended  in  pro- 
phetic description,  and  treated  as  continuous. 
They  saw  them  in  clusters — not  in  chrono- 
logical succession. 

Thus  in  the  10th  chapter  of  Isaiah,  we 
have  a  thrilling  account  of  the  destruction  of 
the  Assyrians,  which  took  place  at  least  six 
centuries  before  the  coming  of  Christ.  Yet 
the  prophet  joins  it  immediately  with  that 
event,  by  the  ordinary  copulative :  "  And 
there  shall  come  forth  a  rod  out  of  the  stem 
of  Jesse,  and  a  Branch  shall  grow  out  of  his 
roots."     The  conjunction  of  this  great  event 


PROPHECY.  125 

with  the  return  from  Babylon,  is  so  frequent, 
as  to  strike  the  most  careless  reader.     Our 
Redeemer's    prophecies    display    the   same 
character.    Tn  the  remarkable  prediction  con- 
tained in  the  24th  of  Matthew,   two  great 
objects  hovered  before  his  mind  :  the  destruc- 
tion of  Jerusalem,  to  take  place  in  less  than 
forty  years  ;    and  his  final  coming  in  glory. 
Yet  he  passes  from  the  former  to  the  latter 
at  once,   and  even  intimates  the   succession 
by  a  word,  {evhaq,)  which  seems  to  exclude 
all  interval  or  delay  :  ver.  29  ;  '*  Immediately 
after  the  tribulation  of  those  days   (the  de- 
struction of  Jerusalem)  shall  the  sign  of  the 
Son  of  man  appear,  and  all  the  tribes  of  the 
earth  shall  wail,  and  they  shall  see  the  Son 
of  man  coming  in  the  clouds  of  heaven  with 
power  and  great  glory,    and  he   shall   send 
his    angels,"   &c.     If  any  wonder   that  he 
should  have  conjoined  two  events  so  distinct 
from  each  other,  by  the  strong  adverb  ivha<; ; 
let  him  consider,  that  when   our  Redeemer 
assumed  the  prophet's  mantle,  he  voluntarily 
placed  himself  under  the  prophet's  laws.    He 
11* 


126  PROPHECY. 

saw  objects,  precisely  as  Isaiah  would  have 
done,  and  spoke  as  he  saw. 

This  characteristic  of  the  prophetic  writ- 
ings is  inscribed  on  almost  every  page.  All 
the  Messianic  passages  exhibit  it  in  a  greater 
or  less  degree  ;  many  of  them,  for  instance, 
placing  the  final  consummation  of  all  things 
in  immediate  juxtaposition  with  the  first 
preaching  of  the  Gospel.  The  field  of  sa- 
cred vision  may,  in  this  respect,  be  compared 
to  a  clear  midnight  sky.  We  see  the  stars 
above  our  head — star  diff'ering  from  star  in 
magnitude  and  brightness,  but  their  relative 
distance  from  us,  or  from  each  other,  we  are 
unable  even  to  conjecture. 

The  subject  may  be  illustrated  by  a  fact 
in  mental  philosophy.  It  is  now  well  under- 
stood, that  sight  gives  no  primary  informa- 
tion concerning  distance,  in  any  case  what- 
ever. We  obtain  it  from  touch.  Having 
acquired  by  the  constant  handling  of  objects, 
notions  of  their  comparative  nearness  or  re- 
moteness, we  associate  with  them  the  vari- 
ous impressions  received  by  the  eye,  and 
learn  to  infer  their  distance  in  the  use  of  this 


PROPHECY.  127 

organ  alone.  Its  informations,  however,  en- 
tirely depend  on  the  previous  handling. 
Without  experience,  sight  would  be  perfectly 
helpless — as  is  proved  by  the  fact,  that  per- 
sons born  blind  who  have  suddenly  obtained 
their  sight,  cannot  for  some  time  even  walk 
the  streets.  Every  thing  appears  to  them 
fixed  in  a  plane,  till  repeated  trials  have 
taught  them  to  correct  the  illusion.  Sup- 
posing, therefore,  a  state  of  things,  in  which 
by  reason  of  the  great  remoteness  or  inac- 
cessibleness  of  objects,  experiment  is  impos- 
sible :  it  is  clear  that  sight  would  be  forever 
at  fault,  and  unable  to  form  the  least  notion 
of  the  relations  in  space,  which  they  bear  to 
each  other.  Such  was  actually  the  state  of 
the  prophet.  He  had  no  measure  by  which 
to  judge  of  the  real  size  or  proportion  of  the 
events  he  foresaw.  He  was  ushered  into  a 
new  world,  nothing  belonging  to  which  he 
had  ever  touched — where  all  was  etherial — 
boundless — *'  dark  by  excessive  bright."  No- 
thing in  his  own  experience,  or  that  of  his 
nation,  or  of  mankind  at  large,  offered  the 
slightest  clue  to  guide  him  through  the  won- 


128  PROPHECY. 

drous  scene  ;  as  Isaiah  distinctly  commemo 
rates,  "  From  the  beginning  of  the  world 
men  have  not  heard,  nor  perceived  by  the 
ear ;  neither  hath  the  eye  seen,  0  God,  be- 
side thee,  what  he  hath  prepared  for  him 
that  waiteth  on  him."  No  wonder  that  he 
was  utterly  lost  in  the  contemplation,  and 
stood  amazed — like  the  man  blind  from  his 
birth,  when  his  darkened  eyeballs  first  open 
on  the  glories  of  the  visible  universe  ! 

4th.  As  the  scenes  and  events  described 
were  present  to  him,  so  their  dress  and 
colouring  were  harrowed  from  objects  with 
which,  as  a  Jew,  he  was  familiar.  The 
whole  representation  having  the  nature  of  a 
picture  addressed  to  the  eye,  it  was  neces- 
sary that  a  certain  system  of  imagery  be 
adopted,  in  which  the  great  moral  truths 
should  lie  enshrined,  as  in  a  beautiful  casket. 
This  imagery  must  be  familiar  to  him,  and 
the  people  ;  otherwise  it  would  be  unintelli- 
gible. Hence  we  find,  that  the  kingdom  of 
Christ  is  always  exhibited  by  ideas  taken 
from  the  national  theocracy.  Messiah  is  not 
only  "  Son  of  David,"  but  "  David"  himself. 


PROPHECY.  129 

Mount  Zion  and  Jerusalem,  the  religious  and 
civil  metropolis  of  the  nation,  signify  the 
Church  redeemed  by  the  blood  of  the  only 
true  sacrifice  for  sin,  and  serving  God  in 
spirit  and  in  truth.  The  aggrandizement  and 
enlargement  of  Jerusalem,  are  the  enlarge- 
ment and  increase  of  that  church.  Her  ene- 
mies are  called  by  the  names  of  the  ancient 
enemies  of  Judah — Egypt,  Ammon,  Moab, 
Edom,  and  Babylon.  The  restoration  of  the 
Jews  in  latter  days  to  the  blessings  of  God's 
covenant,  is  symbolized  by  their  rebuilding 
a  temple  on  Mount  Moriah  :  and  the  union 
of  all  nations  in  the  love  and  worship  of  God, 
is  shadowed  forth  by  a  universal  participa- 
tion in  the  feast  of  tabernacles.  The  ex- 
tinction of  sectarian  feuds,  and  the  delightful 
harmony  prevailing  among  the  lovers  of  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  especially  the  redeemed 
children  of  Abraham,  is  beautifully  repre- 
sented by  the  healing  of  the  ancient  separa- 
tion between  Israel  and  Judah. 

There  is  nothing  strange  in  this.  It  is 
perfectly  natural  to  invest  our  conceptions 
with  the  hue  appropriate  to  our  physical  and 


130  PROPHECY. 

moral  condition,  and  the  objects  with  which 
we  are  daily  conversant.  Where  could  the 
prophet  have  gone,  if  precluded  from  this 
source  of  colouring  ?  Besides,  there  was  a 
most  serious  truth  at  the  bottom.  Our  bless- 
ed Saviour  tells  us,  that  he  came  not  to  de- 
stroy the  law,  but  to  fulfil — in  other  words, 
that  his  religion  is  but  the  purification  and 
expansion  of  the  faith  of  God's  ancient  people. 
How  entirely  becoming  then  was  it,  that  the 
spirit  of  prophecy  should  paint  its  future 
glory,  in  those  forms  of  thought  to  which  the 
people  were  accustomed,  and  which  were  so 
dear  to  the  national  heart. 

These  remarks  have  perhaps  been  unduly 
protracted.  But  the  subject  is  important, 
and  we  think — not  always  understood.  Be- 
sides, our  statement  of  general  principles,  re- 
lieves from  the  necessity  of  entering  into  a 
minute  detail  of  rules.  Two  only  shall  be 
specified. 

1st.  Be  not  anxious  to  find  chronological 
connection  and  order  in  the  prophecies .  They 
are  all  fragmentary,  and  exhibit  their  subject 
in  detached  pieces.    We  have  also  seen,  that 


PROPHECY.  131 

events  the  most  widely  separated  in  time,  are 
grouped  together,  as  if  contemporary,  or  im- 
mediately following  each  other.  Due  regard 
to  this,  will  enable  us  to  dispense  with  many 
violent  expedients  which  have  been  resorted 
to  by  the  learned  ;  especially  with  the  irra- 
tional assumption  of  a  "  double  sense"  in 
prophecy.  That  which  gave  it  favour  with 
commentators,  was  the  fact  above  stated,  that 
events  far  separated  in  time,  were  closely 
connected  in  description — to  explain  which, 
they  found  it  convenient  to  suppose  tw^o  dis- 
tinct fulfilments.  The  first,  they  imagined  to 
take  place  in  some  event  which  occurred 
among  the  Jewish  people,  during  the  exist- 
ence of  their  economy.  The  second  and 
more  perfect,  was  realized  in  the  advent  of 
the  Saviour.  To  give  the  scheme  greater 
respectability,  it  was  married  to  Typology, 
who  adopted  the  children  as  her  own,  calling 
the  temporal  fulfilment — the  type,  and  the 
other  the  antitype.  A  good  example  occurs 
in  the  10th  and  11th  chapters  of  Isaiah  al- 
ready quoted.  The  10th,  announces  the  de- 
struction  of  the  Assyrian   empire.     In   the 


132  PROPHECY. 

1 1th,  the  prophet  advances  at  once  to  the  glo- 
ries of  the  Messiah's  reign — when  "  the  wolf 
shall  dwell  with  the  lamb,  and  the  leopard 
with  the  kid,  and  nothing  shall  hurt  nor  de- 
stroy, in  all  God's  holy  mountain."  Yet  not 
a  few  contend,  that  this  magnificent  prophecy 
had  a  primary  fulfilment  in  Hezekiah  ;  though 
they  grant  a  far  more  complete  accomplish- 
ment in  our  Redeemer,  of  whom  we  need 
not  add  that  they  suppose  Hezekiah  to  have 
been  a  type  ! 

The  view  is  arbitrary  beyond  measure,  and 
opposed  to  facts.  We  maintain  without  fear, 
that  wherever  Christ  is  definitely  spoken  of 
at  all,  he  is  spoken  of  alone,  and  where  the 
blessedness  of  his  rule  is  delineated,  no  other 
blessedness  is  delineated.  Even  in  the  Mes- 
sianic Psalms,  he  is  the  entire  subject.  Da- 
vid may  have  gathered  materials  of  his  de- 
scriptions from  incidents  in  his  own  Hfe  and 
experience,  but  in  no  sense  does  he  speak  of 
himself.  His  exalted  "  Lord"  is  the  all  in 
all  which  occupies  his  mind.  When  you 
meet  therefore  a  passage,  connecting  at  once 
the  coming  of  a  glorious  epoch  with  the  re- 


PROPHECY.  133 

building  of  the  temple  after  the  Babylonish 
captivity,  disnaiss  all  anxiety  to  find  it  partial- 
ly or  typically  fulfilled  in  Zerubbabel,  or  Al- 
exander the  great,  or  the  Maccabees  ;  but  in- 
stantly transport  yourselves  into  Messianic 
times,  or,  if  necessary,  to  the  consummation 
of  all  things.  The  notion  that  prophecy  has 
two  senses,  a  primary  and  secondary,  throws 
a  dark  cloud  of  suspicion  over  both — almost 
conceding  to  the  infidel,  that  it  is  a  kind  of 
writing  which  cannot  be  understood  by  the 
ordinary  laws  of  exegesis.  If  this  were  so, 
Peter,  when  he  spoke  of  a  "  sure  word  of 
prophecy,"  was  very  unfortunate  in  his  choice 
of  an  epithet. 

2.  Do  not  interpret  Prophecy  too  literally. 
Its  splendid  imagery,  and  glowing  pictures 
must  not  be  tortured  into  statements,  such 
as  a  witness  makes  in  a  court  of  justice,  or 
a  historian,  in  describing  the  campaigns  of 
Wellington  or  Bonaparte.  They  are  figures 
and  must  be  treated  as  figures.  Here,  our 
Millenarian  Brethren  err  exceedingly.  Their 
whole  hypothesis  of  the  Jews  becoming  pre- 
eminent as  a  nation  over  all  the  people  of  the 
12 


134  PROPHECY. 

earth,  the  actual  subjugation  of  the  latter  un- 
der their  political  sway,  the  rebuilding  of  the 
temple,  the  resurrection  of  the  martyrs,  and 
the  personal  residence  of  Christ  as  a  tempo- 
ral monarch  in  Jerusalem,  rests  on  no  other 
basis  than  the  assumption,  that  tropes  when 
found  in  the  Bible  tell  the  literal  truth.  It  is 
the  very  error  committed  by  the  carnal  Jews 
themselves,  and  which  led  to  their  rejection 
of  the  Just  One.  Inflated  with  the  most 
fantastic  hopes  and  anticipations  nurtured 
by  their  mistaken  interpretation  of  Prophetic 
symbols,  they  crucified  their  prince,  not  be- 
cause he  failed  in  proving  his  celestial  mis- 
sion, but  because  he  had  nothing  to  offer  them, 
except  a  "kingdom,  that  was  righteousness, 
peace  and  joy  in  the  Holy  Ghost." 

To  the  instances  already  cited,  proving 
that  the  imagery  taken  from  the  Theocrac}^ 
was  symbolical  of  great  moral  and  spiritual 
truths,  we  add  the  following,  merely  as  spe- 
cimens. The  student  must  pursue  the  inves- 
tigation for  himself.  In  the  latter  part  of  the 
11th  chapter  of  Isaiah,  we  have  a  magnifi- 
cient  account  of  the  martial  gathering  of  the 
Jews  under  the  standard  of  the  Messiah,  and 


PROPHECY.  135 

their  brilliant  conquests  over  enemies.  The 
question  is,  whether  we  must  understand  it 
literally  ?  Try  the  principle  upon  the  14th 
verse  :  ''  But  they  shall  fly  upon  the  shoulders 
(the  figure  is  taken  from  the  pouncing  of  a 
ravenous  bird)  of  the  Philistines  toward  the 
v^est;  they  shall  lay  their  hand  upon  Edom 
and  Moab,  and  the  children  of  Ammon  shall 
obey  them."  These  vi^ere  the  ancient  ene- 
mies of  the  theocracy,  and  are  according  to 
our  view,  selected  by  the  Poet  with  great 
taste  and  appropriateness,  as  representatives 
of  every  thing  opposed  to  the  peace  and  hap- 
piness of  the  covenanted  people,  when  they 
should  have  submitted  themselves  to  Christ. 
If  wrong  in  this,  w^e  see  no  alternative  but 
to  expect  along  with  a  resurrection  of  the 
martyrs,  that  of  all  the  savage  clans  who  in 
fested  Israel  during  her  national  existence. 
Try  it  on  the  15th  verse  :  "  The  Lord  shall 
utterly  destroy  the  tongue  of  the  Egyptian 
sea,  and  shake  his  hand  over  the  river,  and 
smite  it  in  the  seven  streams,  and  make  men 
go  over  dry  shod."  There  is  here,  a  beauti- 
ful  allusion  to   the    Exodus  of  Israel  from 


136  PROPHECY. 

Egypt  through  the  Red  Sea.  On  that  occa- 
sion, God  brought  his  people  safely  through 
the  raging  waters,  but  now — he  promises  that 
he  will  utterly  destroy  the  sea  itself.  Can 
this  mean  any  thing  more,  than  that  when  his 
ancient  people  are  to  be  gathered  into  the 
Christian  fold  he  will  remove  every  obstruc- 
tion ;  no  obstacle  shall  be  so  great  that  he 
will  not  put  it  out  of  the  w^ay  by  his  almighty 
power. 

In  Hosea  ii.  14,  God  promises  that  he  will 
bring  his  church  "  into  the  wilderness,  and 
speak  comfortably  to  her  as  in  the  day  when 
she  came  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt,  and  give  her 
vineyards  and  the  valley  of  Achor  for  a  door 
of  hope."  No  one  surely  dreams,  that  the 
Jews  are  again  to  travel  through  Arabia 
Petraea,  under  the  guidance  of  the  fire  and 
cloud.  The  words  are  plainly  allusive,  and 
express  the  general  idea — that  God  will  deliver 
his  people  from  their  spiritual  bondage,  and 
give  them  every  proof  of  his  cordial  and  ten- 
der love. 

What  shall  be  done  with  such  a  passage 
as    that  in  Malachi,  which   distinctly  states 


PROPHECY.  137 

that  the  old  Propliet  Elijah  is  to  come  from 
heaven,  and  announce  the  advent  of  the  Mes- 
siah ?  *'  Behold  I  send  Elijah  the  prophet 
before  the  coming  of  the  great  and  dreadful 
day  of  the  Lord."  Nothing  is  more  express  ; 
and  the  literalists  would  most  certainly  add 
to  the  accompaniments  of  the  personal  ad- 
vent, a  mission  of  this  prophet,  (as  some  have 
done,)  if  Christ  had  not  determined  him  in 
Mat.  xi.  14,  to  be  John  the  Baptist.  We  are 
so  happy  in  this  case,  as  to  have  not  only  a 
New  Testament  interpretation  of  the  phrase 
as  applied  to  John,  but  a  New  Testament 
statement  of  the  reason  for  it,  which  we  take 
leave  to  employ  as  our  key,  in  opening  other 
dark  chambers  in  ancient  Prophesy.  Luke 
i.  17,  *'  He  shall  go  in  the  spirit  and  power 
of  Elias,  to  turn  the  hearts  of  the  fathers  to 
the  children,  and  the  disobedient  to  the  wis- 
dom of  the  just." 

The  33d  chapter  of  Jeremiah  exhibits  the 
principle  for  which  we  contend,  in  so  clear 
and  decisive  a  manner,  that  it  is  quite  suffi- 
cient of  itself  to  settle  the  question.  God  is 
promising  to  his  people,  the  advent  of  their 
12* 


138  PROPHECY. 

great  spiritual  redeemer,  and  the  happy  con- 
sequences of  his  reign  are  graphically  describ- 
ed in  v.  15  :  "In  those  days  will  I  cause  the 
Branch  to  grow  up  unto  David.  In  those 
days  shall  Judah  be  saved,  and  Jerusalem 
shall  dwell  safely ;  and  this  is  the  name  where- 
with she  shall  be  called,  The  Lord  our  right- 
eousness." That  the  Prophet  is  expatiating 
on  the  blessedness  of  the  new  economy  in 
these  words,  is  beyond  a  doubt.  But  what 
thought  immediately  follows  ?  Surely,  un- 
less I  apply  my  key,  a  very  singular  one  : 
V.  18,  "Neither  (in  these  times)  shall  the 
Priests  and  Levites  want  a  man  before  me 
to  offer  burnt  offerings,  and  to  kindle  meat 
offerings,  and  to  do  sacrifice  continually.^''  Is 
it  possible  to  consider  this  as  any  thing  more 
than  symbol,  borrowed  from  the  Levitical 
service  of  the  old  economy  ^  Will  Aaron 
return  from  his  grave.  Christian  altars  rise 
to  steam  with  the  blood  of  rams,  lambs,  and 
he-goats  ;  and  the  purified  churches  of  the 
Redeemer  return  to  those  weak  and  beggarly 
elements  from  which  she  has  been  delivered  ? 
The  fantastic  notion  got  up  to  evade  the 
force  of  many  passages  resembling  this,  that 


PROPHECY.  139 

the  Jews  will  return  to  their  own  land  uncon- 
vertedf  and  offer  sacrifices,  is  of  no  service 
here.  The  Levitical  bondage  is  expressly- 
declared  to  be  enduring,  and  its  continuance 
is  represented  as  one  of  the  most  glorious 
incidents  of  King  Messiah's  reign. 

It  is  needless  to  dwell  on  a  point  so  evi- 
dent. The  scheme  of  these  ingenious  gen- 
tlemen cannot  stand.  It  introduces  a  world- 
ly element  in  our  holy  religion,  at  utter  vari 
ance  wdth  its  genius  and  spirit.  By  its  daz- 
zling promises  of  "  all  the  kingdoms  of  the 
earth  and  their  glory,"  it  strengthens  the 
earthly  principle  within  us,  and  greatly  lowers 
the  tone  of  Christian  sentiment.  It  dis- 
honours the  glorified  person  of  our  Redeem- 
er, by  degrading  him  from  the  seventh  hea- 
vens to  our  miserable  earth,  from  the  right 
hand  of  the  Eternal  Father,  to  a  marble  hovel 
in  Jerusalem  :  and  all  this  it  does,  not  only 
without  necessity,  but  in  violation  as  we  think 
of  the  plainest  rules  of  sound   inrerpretation. 

With  regard  to  the  Apocalypse  of  John, 
we  have  made  no  special  reference  to  it,  as 
its  highly  figurative  and  allegorical  character 
strikes  every  reader  at  once.     Indeed  it  is 


140  PROPHECY. 

surprising,  that  persons  should  be  found  ca- 
pable even  in  their  dreams,  of  putting  literal 
constructions  on  any  part  of  a  book  so  decid- 
edly and  professedly  enigmatical,  with  the 
exception  of  the  first  three  chapters.  Yet 
this  is  done  to  a  certain  extent  by  the  exposi- 
tors above  mentioned,  though  they  are  far 
from  carrying  out  the  principle  v^ith  due  con- 
sistency. They  grant  all  we  are  disposed  to 
ask  concerning  the  general  structure  of  the 
poem  ;  for  poem,  beyond  all  doubt  it  is.  They 
allow,  that  its  angels  with  their  trumpets, 
sickles  and  vials — its  thrones,  four  living  crea- 
tures, and  elders  clothed  in  white — its  "lo- 
custs," like  horses  prepared  unto  the  battle — 
"  its  red  dragon  with  seven  heads  and  ten 
horns" — its  woman  "  clothed  with  the  sun'* 
and  that  other  female  who  "  sits  on  many 
waters  and  is  drunk  with  the  blood  of  Saints," 
are  parts  of  a  splendid  gallery  of  emblematic 
pictures,  designed  to  represent  certain  great 
moral  truths  connected  with  the  state  and  pro- 
gress of  the  church  in  different  ages.  But 
when  they  come  to  the  Martyr'' s  corner,  they 
suddenly  wax  literal — insisting  that  the  "souls 
of  them  that  were  beheaded  for  the  witness 


PROPHECY.  141 

of  Jesus,"  are  the  identical  men  and  women 
who  died  at  former  periods,  and  are  now  to 
rise  from  their  graves  and  reign  with  Christ 
in  person,  a  thousand  calendar  years  !  This 
theory,  they  maintain  in  the  face  of  two  plain 
and  undeniable  facts  ;  first,  that  the  resurrec- 
tion of  the  martyrs,  stands  in  the  very  centre 
of  the  boldest  symbolical  imagery  which  the 
book  contains;  and  secondly,  that  ''  resurrec- 
tion'^  is  a  favourite  figure  employed  by  the 
Prophets,  to  denote  any  great  moral  renova- 
tion in  general,  and  is  used  in  cases  where 
physical  resuscitation  is  entirely  out  of  the 
question.  Isa.  xxvi.  19,  Ezek.  xxxvii.  13, 
Hos.  vi.  2.  Sober  criticism  would  draw  a 
conclusion  directly  opposite  to  that  of  these 
gentlemen — would  infer  that  the  phrase  in 
question  cannot  possibly  receive  any  other 
than  a  figurative  sense,  on  the  very  rational 
and  obvious  principle,  that  a  symbohcal  docu- 
ment must  be  symbohcally  interpreted. 

While,  however,  we  differ  from  the  lite- 
ralists  ;  let  us  avoid  the  other  extreme,  that 
of  turning  Prophesy  entirely  into  figure. 
Doubtless  many  things  will  take  place,  sub- 
stantially as  described.     Such   we  think  is 


142  PROPHECY. 

the  promised  return  of  the  Jews  to  their  own 
land.  We  build  the  opinion,  not  so  much 
on  expressions  used  in  the  Prophets,  which 
might  all  he  symbolical  of  their  union  to  the 
spiritual  theocracy,  as  on  the  covenant  stipu- 
lations given  to  the  people  in  the  land  of 
Moab,  and  recorded  in  the  30th  and  31st 
chapters  of  Deuteronomy.  This  legislative 
edict,  which  I  have  no  right  to  treat  as  a  pre- 
dictive poem,  states  most  emphatically,  and 
with  great  variety  of  phrase,  that  if  after  be- 
ing rooted  out  of  their  country  they  should 
repent,  the  "  Lord  their  God  would  bring 
them  back  into  the  land,  which  their  fathers 
possessed,  and  they  should  possess  it."  Still 
more  confidently  do  we  believe  in  their  con- 
version to  Christ,  their  holy  brotherhood  with 
the  Gentiles,  and  the  universal  reign  of  peace 
on  the  earth.  How  far  the  literal  fulfilment 
will  be  carried,  v/e  are  ignorant.  God  did 
not  give  us  prophecy,  that  we  might  know  all 
things ;  but  might  have  encouragements  to 
faith,  and  incentives  to  holy  exertion.  The 
expositor  who  has  not  learnt  to  be  ignorant — 
and  to  let  his  ignorance  sit  gracefully  on  him, 
has  yet  to  learn  the  elements  of  his  art. 


ADDRESS 
TO    STUDENTS    OF     THEOLOGY. 

Young  Gentlemen, 

We  have  been  exhibiting  in  brief 
compass,  the  rules  and  maxims  by  which  you 
are  to  be  guided  in  the  study  of  Holy  Scrip- 
ture. Before  parting  company,  we  desire  to 
say  a  few  words  on  the  deep  responsibility 
which  you  are  under  in  relation  to  this  mat- 
ter. Mere  rules,  however  clearly  laid  down 
and  faithfully  WTitten  on  the  tablets  of  memo- 
ry, will  be  of  little  avail,  unless  accompanied 
with  earnest,  vigorous,  and  untiring  labour 
in  reducing  them  to  practice.  Allow  us  then 
to  speak  on  this  point,  with  frankness  and 
Christian  affection.  As  candidates  for  the 
sacred  office,  you  have  a  duty  to  perform  to 
the  word  of  God,  wdiich  requires  the  devotion 
of  your  best  faculties,  the  consecration  of  all 
your  time,  and  a  fixedness  of  purpose  which 
nothing  can  relax.  If  you  doubt  it,  look  at 
the  nature  of  that  office  ! 

Perhaps   Christianity  is  in  nothing  more 


144  ADDRESS,    ETC. 

Strikingly  distinguished  from  other  rehgions, 
than  in  tlie  function  and  duties  assigned  to 
its  ministers.  The  priests  of  heathenism 
never  dared  to  come  out  among  the  people, 
as  simple  promulgers  of  truth.  Indeed  they 
could  not  well  give  what  was  not  in  their 
possession,  and  this  they  knew.  Not  a  phi- 
losopher of  the  porch  or  academy,  laughed 
more  heartily  than  themselves,  at  the  ridicu- 
lous impostures  they  were  daily  practising 
on  their  votaries  !  What  their  system  want- 
ed in  solidity,  however,  they  made  up  in 
form,  and  if  it  could  not  speak  to  the  under- 
standing, it  should  at  least  dazzle  the  senses, 
and  captivate  the  imagination.  Hence  those 
magnificent  structures  whose  broken  frag- 
ments are  siill  the  worlds  admiration,  in 
whose  sacred  shrines  were  encased  the 
wonderful  achievements  of  statuary — the  all 
but  breathing  Gods  of  stone,  which  modern 
virtuosos  still  worship  with  little  short  of 
heathen  idolatry.  Hence  the  expensive  sa- 
crificial rites  by  which  these  marble  gods 
were  propitiated,  tlie  pompous  festivals  and 
processions,    the   magnificent  exhibitions  of 


ADDRESS,    ETC.  145 

poetry,  dance  and  song,  which  in  their  origin 
were  purely  rehgious,  and  never  entirely  lost 
the  character  of  worship  rendered  to  the 
Deity.  Hence  the  famous  mysteries,  in  the 
celebration  of  which  every  thing  was  com- 
bined to  awe — to  fascinate — to  bind  in  the 
chains  of  an  abject  superstition,  the  man  who 
yielded  himself  to  their  bewitchments. 

Eut  far  different  is  the  spell  which  our 
holy  religion  of  light  and  love,  casts  on  the 
human  faculties  !  Prejudice  itself  cannot 
deny,  that  whether  its  principles  be  true  or 
false,  they  belong  to  a  system  magnificently 
intellectual.  Far,  indeed,  are  we  from  sup- 
posing, that  its  exclusive  aim  is  to  ratify  spe- 
culative error.  Its  astonishing  power  over 
the  heart,  is  a  fact  conceded  by  all.  But  we 
mean  to  say,  that  this  control,  it  exercises 
through  the  previous  mastery  it  has  obtained 
over  the  understanding — the  conscience — the 
unsophisticated  sense  of  right  and  wrong.  It 
calls  to  deep  thoughts — grave  discourse,  soul 
stirring  contemplations.  The  themes  which 
it  brings  before  the  mind,  are  so  magnificent 
and  enchained  with  infinity  itself,  that  the 
13 


146  ADDRESS,    ETC. 

sublimest  intellect  is  lost,  before  it  has  enter- 
ed on  their  investigation,  and  yet  so  conge- 
nial to  reason,  that  what  we  do  comprehend, 
appear  almost  self-evident  propositions. 

It  tells  concerning  a  pure  Almight}^  Spirit, 
who  by  a  simple  act  of  will,  called  into  being 
the  heavens  and  the  earth.  It  imparts  the 
most  interesting  details  concerning  his  provi- 
dential government,  informs  us  of  our  primi- 
tive condition,  and  gives  the  most  simple  and 
beautiful  solution  of  the  great  problem  which 
has  confounded  the  acutest  minds,  "  whence 
come  evils  upon  men."  It  tells  us  when, 
and  where,  the  first  notice  was  given  of  that 
plan  of  mercy,  into  which  angels  are  looking 
with  crrowinsj  w^onder  and  delio^ht.  It  relates 
with  accuracy  the  preparatory  measures  for 
its  execution,  unfoldiag  his  mysterious  deal- 
ings for  more  than  a  thousand  years  with  that 
singular  people,  whom  he  had  selected  to  be 
the  depository  of  prophecy  and  promise,  till 
the  advent  of  him,  in  whom  all  families  of 
the  earth  should  be  blessed.  Thus  far,  we 
are  only  in  the  holy  place  of  the  temple — and 
now  the  veil  is  rent  in  twain,  which  conceal- 


ADDRESS,    ETC.  147 

ed  the  glories  of  the  inner  house,  allowing 
us  to  behold  the  true  ark  and  the  living  'per- 
sonal Shechinah,  "God  manifested  in  the 
flesh  ;"  who,  after  he  had  purged  our  sins, 
ascended  on  high,  and  sat  down  at  the  right 
hand  of  the  heavenly  majesty  ! 

In  exact  cosrespondence  with  so  thoughtful 
and  suggestive  a  religion,  is  the  work  of  its 
official  minister.  He  is  not  a  master  of  cere- 
monies, presiding  over  a  splendid  ritual, 
which  fills  the  eye,  but  leaves  an  aching  void 
in  the  heart.  He  is  by  divine  institution— a 
teacher ;  and  in  the  simple,  naked  grandeur 
of  this  character,  he  stands  before  the  people. 
A  volume  has  been  put  into  his  hands  of  rich 
and  various  contents,  nay,  absolutely  teem- 
ing with  matter  ;  and  at  the  peril  of  his  soul, 
he  must  s*pread  it  out  in  its  whole  length  and 
breadth  before  his  hearers.  The  principle 
on  which  he  must  act,  is  this  simple  and  ob- 
vious one,  that  there  is  nothing  in  his  com- 
mission which  he  may  deliberately  overlook. 
He  is  not  at  liberty  here.  Some  parts  of 
duty  may  perhaps  be  omitted  without  sub- 
jecting him  to   the  brand  of  gross  unfaithful 


148  ADDRESS,    ETC. 

ness.  Bat  if  he  neglects  to  expound  the  sa- 
cred volume,  if  he  shows  no  anxiety  to  form 
among  his  people,  habits  of  carefully  reading 
and  inwardly  digesting  it,  he  may  well  trem- 
ble at  the  thought  of  rendering  an  account. 

Labour  then — labour,  is  heaven's  first  law 
of  preparation  for  the  gospel  ministry.  We 
have  seen,  that  the  Bible,  though  a  popular, 
and  in  many  respects  an  easy  book,  presents 
serious  difficulties  to  him  who  would  become 
master  of  its  treasures.  Both  its  great  divi- 
sions are  written  in  languages,  which  have 
long  ceased  to  be  vernacular.  The  people 
who  spoke  them  were  distinguished  by  re- 
markable peculiarities  of  opinion,  habits, 
laws,  which  influenced  greatly  their  modes 
of  expression.  Besides  therefore,  possessing 
a  knowledge  of  Hebrew  and  Greek,  one  must 
be  well  acquainted  with  Jewish  and  classical 
antiquities,  including  chronology,  geography, 
civil  and  religious  history.  Yet,  even  this 
is  but  preliminary.  Now  comes  the  actual 
tug  :  the  reading  of  verse  after  verse  with 
the  accurate  settling  of  every  philological 
question  that  arises,  by  aid  of  the  dictionary 


ADDRESS,    ETC.  149 

and  grammar ;  ihe  examining  of  scope,  con- 
text, parallelism,  idiom  and  tropical  diction  ; 
the  comparing  our  own  results  with  those  of 
some  judicious  commentator  ;  and  the  careful 
gathering  up  of  the  great  truths  whether  doc- 
trinal or  practical,  contained  in  every  para- 
graph. These — are  the  gymnastics,  by  which 
the  young  Christian  athlete  learns  to  endure 
hardness,  and  becomes  a  skilful  and  gallant 
soldier  in  the  service  of  his  master  !  Do  you 
complain  of  the  arrangement  ?  Then  ask  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  why  he  ordained  it ;  why 
it  was  not  enough  to  tread  the  "  dolorous 
way  "  in  his  own  person,  without  imposing 
vigils  and  self-denials  on  his  followers  ?  Tell 
him  plainly,  that  while  you  like  his  wages, 
you  dislike  the  labour  ;  and  wish  to  share  his 
kingdom  without  companionship  in  his  pa- 
tience and  tribulation.  Does  your  cheek  man- 
tle with  shame  at  the  suircrestion?  Then  be 
silent  young  man — and  to  your  work  !  !  It 
is  quite  honour  enough  for  the  disciple  to  be 
as  his  master,  and  the  servant  as  his  Lord. 

But  some  one  asks,  in  a  tone  half-apologeti- 
cal,  whether,   after  all,  much  of  the  trouble 
13* 


150  ADDRESS,    ETC. 

we  have  spoken  of  may  not  be  spared  ?  Are 
we  not  blessed  with  "  king  James'  admirable 
translation  of  the  Bible,"  and  with  most  judi- 
cious commentators,  in  whom  are  reposited 
as  much  criticism  and  literary  information, 
as  are  necessary  to  a  right  understanding  it  ? 
Why,  as  the  fountain  is  so  difficult  of  ac- 
cess, not  content  ourselves  w4th  these  delec- 
table pipes  at  our  very  door?  We  confess, 
that  language  like  this,  when  heard,  (as  it 
sometimes  is)  ruffles  our  good  humour.  God, 
in  his  infinite  kindness  to  men,  has  preserved 
for  them  an  ample  revelation  of  his  will,  by 
a  series  of  dispensations  falling  little  short  of 
miracle.  He  has  set  apart  an  order  of  men 
to  be  its  official  expounders,  and  the  church 
is  generously  sustaining  the  institution  by  its 
munificent  provision  for  the  gratuitous  edu- 
cation of  candidates  in  all  stages  of  their  pro- 
gress, and  when  they  have  entered  on  their 
work,  by  relieving  them  from  every  worldly 
care  and  avocation,  that  they  may  give  them- 
selves wholly  to  it,  and  their  profiting  may 
appear  to  all  men.  Yet  the  question  is  seri- 
ously asked,   whether  a  practical  acquaint- 


ADDRESS,    ETC.  151 

ance  with  these  lively  oracles  in  their  proper 
dialects,  should  be  anxiously  cultivated  by  the 
Christian  minister !! 

We  blush  to  think  in  hovir  many  respects 
the  children  of  the  v^^orld  are  w^iser  than  the 
children  of  light.     The  merchant's  clerk,  if 
his  interest  point  that  way,  will  sit  down  and 
master  French,  Spanish  and  German,   with 
out  heaving  a  sigh.     The  gentleman  who  in- 
tends  to   travel    a   few    years   in    the   east, 
grudges  no  pains  to  make  himself  acquainted 
with   Turkish,   Arabic    or    Lingua   Franca. 
Even  the  girl  scarcely  in  her  teens,  wearied 
of  thrumming  on  her  guitar  to  the  harsh  strains 
of  her  native  English,  determines,  and  car- 
ries the  purpose  through  in  a  way  that  might 
astonish  many  a  grave   student  of  the  other 
sex,  to  achieve  a  conquest  over  the  sweetly 
flowing  Italian.     But  the  professed  interpre- 
ter of  God's    holy  word,    the  legate  of   the 
skies,  is  so  astounded  at  the  thought  of  learn- 
ing   eifectively  a  pair   of    languages — than 
either  of  which,  a  finer  never  vibrated  on  the 
human  ear,  that  he  prefers  to  live  and  die, 


152  ADDRESS,    ETC. 


just  able  to  spell  the  letters  of  his  commis- 


sion 


With  regard  to  our  English  translation, 
much  as  we  admire  that  noble  monument  of 
"  English  pure  and  undefiled,"  which  will 
last  probably  as  long  as  the  world,  we  say  to 
those  who  quote  it  in  the  present  argument, 
that  it  is  an  exceedingly  imperfect  represen- 
tation of  the  original.  The  venerable  men 
who  formed  it,  were  not  profoundly  versed 
in  either  Greek  or  Hebrew,  though  their  at- 
tainments were  eminent  for  the  day  in  which 
they  lived  ;  and  accordingly  there  are  not  a 
few  instances  in  every  page,  where  the  sense 
is  not  injured  merely,  but  entirely  lost. 
Even  where  the  signification  of  words  is  giv- 
en properly,  the  transitive  and  connecting 
particles  which  show  the  relation  of  the  dif- 
ferent members  of  a  thought,  have  secondary 
meanings  so  entirely  different  from  those  of 
the  corrseponding  particles  in  English,  that  a 
literal  version  is  often  nothing  better  than  a 
mere  travesty  of  the  original.  Take  St. 
Paul  for  an  example.  It  is  quite  impossible 
for  a  mere  English  reader  to  peruse  his  argu- 


ADDRESS,    ETC.  153 

mentative  epistles,  without  feeling  tempted  to 
suspect,  that  there  may  be  a  grain  of  truth  in 
the  profane  remark  of  Dr.  Priestly,  that  his 
premises  are  not  always  sound,  nor  his  con- 
clusions logical.  His  reverence  for  inspira- 
tion will  not  allow  him  to  say  so  in  express 
words.  But  if  asked  the  question,  he  will 
acknowledge  his  great  surprise,  at  the  little 
profit  which  he  receives  from  the  decidedly 
most  intellectual  writer  of  theChristianschooL 
Now  where  in  this  doubt  and  darkness  shall 
the  interpreter  go?  To  expositors?  But  expo- 
sitors often  differ  ;  and  who  shall  decide  when 
doctors  disagree  ?  The  value  of  this  class  of 
authors  to  the  unlearned  reader,  and  to  the 
learned  also,  if  properly  used,  we  are  far  from 
denying.  But  not  one  is  to  be  absolutely 
trusted.  To  none,  does  the  remark  of  Mr^ 
Locke  that  "  every  man  has  a  secret  flaw  in 
his  cranium,  producing  some  extravagancy 
in  opinion  or  action,  which  in  that  particular, 
renders  him  fitter  for  Bedlam  than  ordinary 
conversation,"  apply  with  more  force  than  to 
commentators.  The  best,  has  not  only  faults, 
but  frequently  under  the  influence  of  secta- 


154  ADDRESS,    ETC. 

rian  bias  or  mental  idiosyncracy,  falls  into 
perfect  absurdity.  He  oiily  therefore  uses 
them  with  safety,  who  can  compare  them  to- 
gether, and  exercise  an  eclectic  judgment  of 
his  own.  Pitiable,  most  pitiable,  is  the  con- 
dition of  that  professed  teacher  of  Clmstiani- 
ty,  the  only  source  of  illumination  to  whose 
darkened  mind,  are  the  contradictory  opinions 
of  men — who  has  not  the  shadow  of  a  reason 
for  his  preference  of  one  above  another,  ex- 
cept that  it  is  more  agreeable  to  the  Shibbo- 
leth of  his  sect  ! 

Can  a  creature  thus  lame,  blind,  and 
shackled,  the  passive  recipient  of  whatever 
the  adopted  lord  of  his  understanding  and 
conscience  may  choose  to  impose  upon  him, 
be  called  an  authoritative  (we  grant  the  "  au- 
thorized ")  expounder  of  divine  truth  ?  Im- 
possible !  and  no  one  is  more  fully  convinced 
of  it,  than  the  man  himself-  He  may  not  run 
to  the  house  top,  and  proclaim  it ;  for  this 
would  greatly  lower  his  estimation  with  the 
people,  and  probably  somelhing  else.  He 
may  even  join  in  the  senseless  clamor  against 
a  learned  ministry.     But  he  feels  ncvcrthe- 


ADDRESS,    ETC.  155 

less,  that  he  labours  under  a  dreadful  incom- 
petency, that  he  is  a  blind  leader  of  the  blind, 
right  only  bv  chance,  and  without  even  en- 
joying the.happiness  of  knowing  it,  that  the  no- 
blest part  of  him,  his  understanding,  is  prostrate 
before  a  miserable  creature  as  blind  perhaps 
as  himself,  whom  he  often  suspects,  but  al- 
loays  foUoivs — with  the  servility  of  a  dog, 
not  darinc^  to  move  a  hand-breadth  from  his 
track.  In  a  word,  he  cannot  help  despising 
himself,  and  takes  refuge  probably  from  the 
shame  of  his  own  thoughts,  in  the  entire  neg- 
lect of  Scriptural  inquiries — limiting  his  am- 
bition to  ringing  peals  from  Sabbath  to  Sab- 
bath, on  a  few  topics  of  general  exhortation  ! 
These  remarks  may  be  thought  more  ap- 
plicable to  those  already  in  the  sacred  office^ 
than  persons  who  are  in  a  course  of  prepara- 
tion. But  it  is  not  so.  Though  the  evil  is 
developed  in  the  ministry,  its  birth-place  and 
cradle  are  our  seminaries  of  learning.  HerCy 
those  habits  are  formed  both  for  good  and 
evil,  which  mould  the  character  beyond  the 
reach  ot  change,  except  by  the  sovereign  grace 
of  God.     We  fear  that  they  are  often  formed 


156  ADDRESS,    ETC. 

badly;  and  that  many  of  our  young  candi- 
dates for  the  ministry  need  the  application 
of  a  little  stimulus  to  their  reason  and  con- 
science. 

The  general  sincerity  of  their  purpose  to 
serve  God  faithfully  in  the  gospel  of  his  Son, 
we  do  not  intend  here  to  question.  But  that 
they  are  far  from  being  awake  to  the  neces- 
sity of  vigorous  and  untiring  effort,  in  mak- 
ing biblical  preparation  for  their  work,  is  too 
evident.  They  entered  the  Theological  sem- 
inary perhaps,  full  of  life  and  ardor.  But, 
alas  !  in  one  short  month,  a  chilling  frost 
came  over  them,  nipping  the  tender  buds  of 
promise,  and  infusing  a  deadly  torpor  through 
all  their  facuUies.  They  became  fatigued — 
alarmed — and  are  evidently  disappointed 
men.  They  seem  to  have  expected,  that  af 
ter  passing  through  the  straight  gate  of  con- 
version, they  should  be  put  on  a  road  strew- 
ed with  flowers,  bordered  with  groves  of  cit- 
ron— and  couches  of  ease  at  every  turn,  in- 
viting the  traveller  to  sweet  repose.  'Tis  hard 
they  think — passing  hard,  that  gentlemen  of 
:!ialent  and  piety,  so  devoted  to  the  great  work 


ADDRESS,  ETC.  157 

of  converting  sinners,  that  if  the  church  per- 
mitted it,  they  would  gladly  mount  the  pulpit 
at  once,  should  be  treated  almost  as  harshly 
as  a  galley  slave  at  the  oar ;  condemned  to 
disinter  a  thousand  Hebrew  roots,  analyse  a 
legion  of  Hellenistic  idioms,  pore  over  Latin, 
Greek,  Oriental  Antiquities  ;  and  be  told  that 
when  all  this  is  accomplished,  preparation 
for  their  work  may  be  considered  fairly  be- 
gun! 

The  effect  of  such  reflections  is  apparent. 
They  have  become  listless,  inert,  melancholy. 
Study  does  not  agree  with  their  constitution  ; 
producing  dyspepsia,  palpitations  of  the  heart, 
"  incipient  bronchitis,"  and  a  determination 
of  blood  to  the  head.  A  hundred  times  in 
the  day  they  exclaim,  what  a  weariness  is  it ! 
and  gladly  seek  relief  in  dull  vacuity  of 
thought,  idle  miscellaneous  reading,  or  talk- 
ing pretty  nothings  in  a  lady's  parlour.  Per- 
haps, to  make  time  pass  less  heatily,  they 
offer  their  preaching  services  to  a  neighbour- 
ing prayer  meeting,  where  the  plaudits  re- 
ceived, give  precious  omen  of  more  extensive 
triumphs,  and  prove,  that  genius  like  theirs, 
14 


158  ADDRESS,    ETC. 

may  safely  despise  the  uncouth  adornments 
of  Greek  and  Hebrew.  Many  of  them  deem 
the  irksome  season  of  probation,  an  admira- 
ble time  for  securing  that  best  of  earthly 
blessings — a  good  wife;  and  thus,  a  business 
in  which  the  wisest  man  is  apt  to  play  the 
fool,  they  contrive  to  despatch,  at  the  period 
when  every  faculty,  every  affection  of  their 
being,  should  be  engrossed  by  the  one  great 
object  which  has  received  their  consecra- 
tion !  This  impatience  of  labour,  this  mor- 
bid desire  to  engage  in  an  enterprise  without 
submitting  to  wholesome  preparatory  disci- 
pline, this  voluptuous  effeminacy  of  charac- 
ter, 13  a  blight  and  a  curse  on  all  our  semina- 
ries of  learning.* 

*  Yet  the  evil  is  attributable  far  more  to  our  literary  in- 
stitutions, than  to  the  young  men  themselves.  The  truth 
is,  they  have  had  no  opportunity  of  obtaining  suitable  pre- 
paration, or  forming  proper  habits.  We  speak  at  present 
of  the  study  of  languages.  They  are  sent  to  schools, 
whose  reputation  has  been  established  by  the  magical  ra- 
pidity with  which  they  turn  out  finished  scholars  to  the 
varion.s  colleges  in  their  neighbourhood ;  and  when  in  col- 
lege, they  admirably  succeed  in  losing  the  scanty  modicum 
which  they  acquired  in  :.chool.     The  writer  has  heard 


ADDRESS,    ETC.  159 

All  are  not  thus.  We  attest  it  with  pleasure, 
and  even  fully  believe,  that  could  a  census  be 
taken,  the  class  described  above,  would  be 
found  in  a  decided  minority.  There  are  many 
however,  who  cherish  an  honest  wish  and 
purpose  to  do  their  duty,  yet  are  not  a  little 
daunted  by  the  prospect  before  them.  It 
seems  to  stretch  out  into  immensity  !  Is  ade- 
quate preparation,  they  ask,  feasible  ?  Are 
they  capable  of  attaining  by  conscientious 
exertion,  such  a  real  acquaintance  with  the 
languages  and  literature  of  Scripture,  that  on 
their  entering  the  ministry  and  applying  to 
the  work   of  exposition,  the  painful  thought 

ecores  of  ingenuous  youth  confess  with  bitter  regret,  that 
their  whole  course  in  Alma  Mater  was  a  regular  business 
of  forgetting  the  little  Greek  they  had  previously  acquired. 
At  the  same  time,  we  do  not  think  that  serious  blame 
should  be  attached  to  the  professors  and  tutors  in  our  col- 
leges. No  teacher  is  under  obligation  to  make  himself  a 
drudge  and  a  slave,  when  the  only  object  accomplished, 
will  be  the  driving  students  elsewhere.  Something  might 
be  done  to  raise  the  standard  of  claisscal  (especially 
Greek)  literature,  by  a  united  offort  of  all  our  institutions. 
But  we  have  little  hope  of  this  taking  place  before  the 
Greek  Kalends.     Parents  must  be  accommodated. 


160  ADDRESS,    ETC. 

will  not  obtrude,  that  they  have  been  labour- 
ing to  no  valuable  purpose  ?  Assuming,  that 
those  who  put  the  question,  commence  their 
theological  course,  possessing  that  amount  of 
learning  which  ought  to  be  obtained  in  a  lite- 
rary college,  we  answer.  Yes !  With  the 
ordinary  blessing  of  Him,  whose  you  are,  and 
whom  you  serve,  it  depends  entirely  on  your- 
selves. We  do  not  affect  to  conceal  the  dif- 
ficulties which  are  in  the  way.  The  elemen- 
tary exercises  of  learning  the  grammar  and 
vocabulary  of  a  strange  language,  of  impress- 
ing on  the  memory  the  genders,  cases,  and 
other  accidents  of  nouns,  of  hunting  verbs 
through  all  the  mazes  of  conjugation,  we  ad- 
mit were  not  exactly  the  form,  in  which 
Satan  presented  the  temptation  to  aspire  af- 
ter knowledge  in  Paradise.  But  what  then  ? 
Would  you  expect  young  men  to  be  placed 
above  the  universal  law  of  heaven,  that  every 
thing  truly  valuable  is  purchased  by  strenu- 
ous exertion  ? 

Far  however  be  the  thought,  that  Prepara- 
tion is  in  all  its  stages  a  painful  drudgery. 
Only  let  the  student   sit  down,  and  make  a 


ADDRESS,  ETC.  161 

fair  trial :  he  will  be  astonished  to  find  how- 
soon  light  rises  out  of  darkness,  and  the  im- 
pediments which  seemed  insurmountable  dis- 
appear, until  his  path  becomes  agreeable,  and 
even  delightful.  The  forms  of  words,  with 
their  significations,  gradually  rivet  them- 
selves in  his  memory,  so  that  he  can  recal 
them  with  ease  and  pleasure.  His  dictionary 
enjoys  longer  intervals  of  rest ;  the  beauties 
of  thought  and  expression  begin  to  show 
themselves,  like  modest  daisies  in  spring — 
and  what  a  blessed  rapture  pours  its  tide 
through  his  soul,  when  he  discovers  that  he 
can  draw  the  water  of  salvation  directly  from 
the  limpid  fountain,  and  with  his  own  hand 
pluck  the  healing  leaves  from  the  tree  of  life  ! 
Then  his  work  goes  on  pleasantly  indeed  ! 
A  field  of  delightful  employment  stretches 
before  him— a  garden  of  the  Lord,  lovelier 
than  Eden  ever  was,  which  he  cultivates 
without  pain,  whose  fruit  he  gathers  without 
fatigue,  while  the  God  who  placed  him 
there,  walks  amid  the  fohage,  and  converses 
with  him  face  to  face. 

This  is  no  fancy  sketch.    Those  who  have 
14* 


162  ADDRESS,  ETC. 

gone  through  the  process,  will  certify  to  the 
truth  of  every  word,  and  say  that  after  a  cer- 
tain stage  of  progress,  the  critical  reading  of 
Holy  Scripture  became  one  of  the  most  pleas- 
ant occupations  of  their  life.  Witness  the 
beautiful  recital  of  the  learned  and  pious 
Bishop  Home  of  his  state  of  mind  while  pre- 
paring his  commentary  on  the  Psalms. — 
"  Could  the  author  flatter  himself,"  he  says, 
"  that  any  one  would  take  half  the  pleasure 
in  reading  the  following  exposition,  which  he 
has  taken  in  writing  it,  he  would  not  fear  the 
loss  of  his  labour.  The  employment  detach- 
ed him  from  the  bustle  and  hurry  of  life,  the 
din  of  poHtics,  and  noise  of  folly.  Vanity 
and  vexation  flew  away  for  a  season,  care  and 
disquietude  came  not  near  his  dwelling.  He 
arose  fresh  as  the  morning  to  his  task,  the 
silence  of  night  invited  him  to  pursue  it,  and 
he  can  truly  say  that  food  and  rest  were  not 
preferred  before  it.  Happier  hours  than  those 
which  have  been  spent  on  these  meditations 
on  the  songs  of  Zion,  he  never  expects  to  see 
in  this  world.  Very  pleasantly  did  they  pass, 
and  moved   smoothly  and  swiftly  along ;  for 


ADDRESS,    ETC.  163 

when  thus  engaged  he  counted  no  time. — 
They  are  gone,  but  have  left  a  relish  and  fra- 
grance on  the  mind,  and  the  remembrance  of 
them  is  sweet."  Will  you  not  feel  encour- 
aged, young  friends  and  brethren,  by  this  ex- 
perience of  the  venerable  bishop,  to  enter  on 
your  work  like  men  ?  Away  with  despond- 
ency and  forebodings  of  defeat.  Away  with 
that  ingenuit}^,  which,  bribed  by  indolence, 
sees  monsters  and  lions  in  the  way.  Listen 
not  to  those  evil  spies,  those  lazy,  worthless 
cowards,  who  would  tell  you  that  the  good 
land  which  flows  with  milk  and  honey,  is  be- 
set with  giants,  sons  of  Anak  ;  that  the  Ama- 
lekites  dwell  in  the  south,  Hittites,  Jebusites, 
and  Amorites,  in  the  mountains,  the  Canaan- 
ites  by  the  sea ;  and  that  you  cannot  go 
against  this  people  !  Hear  them  not,  but  say 
in  the  strength  of  the  Lord,  and  your  own 
firm  purpose,  "  Let  us  go  up  to  possess  it,  for 
we  are  fully  able  to  overcome  them."  You 
will  not  be  uttering  a  vain  boast.  Victory  is 
certain,  and  when  it  comes,  you  will  be  more 
than  recompensed  for  all  your  toils. 

Pardon  us,  if  we  dwell  a  moment  longer 


164  ADDRESS,    ETC. 

on  this  subject,  and  remind  you  what  the  re- 
compense will  be.  Are  you  anxious  that  one 
day  you  may  cover  with  confusion  the  bold 
infidel,  who  defies  the  armies  of  the  living 
God,  and  by  calm  convincing  demonstrations, 
which  shall  come  home  to  the  honest  under- 
standings of  men,  show  the  groundlessness 
of  his  objections.  This  you  will  be  able  to 
do,  by  displaying  the  truth,  beauty  and 
moral  dignity  of  that  blessed  volume  against 
which  his  violence  is  directed — in  order  to 
which,  you  must  have  studied  it.  Without 
study,  -'ou  will  scarcely  be  able  to  avert  the 
baneful  influence  of  scepticism  from  your  own 
soul,  much  less  build  your  hearers  on  their 
most  holy  faith.  Do  you  wish  to  become 
vivid,  interesting,  various  preachers,  who 
make  their  hearers  feel  the  commanding  en- 
ergy of  truth,  and  whom  they  never  tire  of 
hearing,  as  every  sermon  brings  forth  new 
evidences  of  apostleship?  Study  your  Bible ! 
There,  you  will  find  inexhaustible  resources 
of  pleasing,  impressing,  profiting.  Prepare 
yourselves  for  expounding  the  word  of  God 
from  Sabbath  to  Sabbath.     Prepare  your- 


ADDRESS,    ETC.  165 

selves  for  bringing  before  the  people  Moses 
and  the  Prophets,  Christ  and  his  Apostles,  to 
unfold  its  instructive  histories,  analyze  its 
charming  parables,  disentangle  and  develope 
its  sublime  reasonings.  If  such  be  the  char- 
acter of  your  exhibitions,  we  venture  to  prom- 
ise you  immunity  against  one  sore  evil  under 
the  sun — that  of  being  waited  on  by  a  church 
session  or  consistory,  in  the  second  year  of 
your  labours,  and  affectionately  informed  that 
there  is  no  farther  call  for  your  services. 

Do  you  wish  to  be  eminently  successful  in 
winning  souls  to  Christ?  Study  the  Book. 
This,  is  the  two-edged  sword,  that  pierces  to 
the  dividing  asunder  of  soul  and  spirit,  joints 
and  marrow,  and  is  a  discerner  of  the  thoughts 
and  intents  of  the  heart.  Machinery  has  been 
invented,  which,  worked  by  skilful  hands, 
can  furnish  to  order,  a  greater  number  of  nomi- 
nal converts,  manufactured  in  a  given  pe- 
riod ;  but  "  the  truth"  alone  makes  children 
of  God,  and  heirs  of  immortality  ! 

Have  you  regard  to  personal  comfort  and 
enjoyment  ?  What  an  inexhaustible  source 
of  amusement — yes,  amusement,  high   and 


166  ADDRESS,    ETC. 

holy  as  that  of  angels,  will  you  possess,  when 
you  have  acquired  the  taste,  skill,  and  habit, 
of  reading  in  its  originals  the  holy  Word, — 
To  this  mount  you  will  be  able  to  retire  at 
any  moment,  like  the  pious  Home,  from  the 
cares  and  turmoils  of  life,  and  see  more  than 
the  three  disciples  saw,  on  the  hallowed  sum- 
mit of  Tabor.  When  afflicted  and  almost  re- 
pining at  the  ways  of  Heaven,  let  your  old 
Hebrew  Bible  introduce  you  to  the  bedside 
of  vCiierable  Job,  with  whom  and  his  friends, 
you  may  speculate  on  the  mysteries  of  Provi- 
dence, until  convicted  of  your  folly,  you  join 
with  him  in  his  humble  acknowledgment,  "I 
have  uttered  what  I  understood  not,  things 
too  wonderful  which  I  knew  not !"  Are  you 
suffering  under  hypochondriac  depression  ? 
you  may  order  the  sweet  singer  of  Israel  to 
strike  his  lyre.  If  its  music  does  not  expel 
the  evil  spirit,  as  it  did  from  Saul,  your  case 
is  indeed  melancholy. 

But  the  study  we  recommend  will  be  far 
more  than  an  occasional  solace.  The  pre- 
paration of  a  series  of  expository  remarks  on 
an  important  portion  of  Scripture,  which  he 


ADDRESS,    ETC.  167 

knows  his  people  look  for  on  the  ensuing 
Sabbath,  furnishes  to  a  pastor  a  de-ightful 
regular  employment,  that  rouses  the  faculties, 
gives  elasticity  to  every  muscle,  fillips  the 
blood,  and  is  more  conducive  to  health  than 
all  the  medicine  of  the  dispensatory.  We 
are  not  ignorant,  that  mental  application  is 
considered  by  many  unfavourable  to  a  good 
condition  of  the  physical  system,  and  that  by 
this  supposed  fact,  they  explain  the  meagre 
and  hectic  looks  of  clergymen.  Nothing  is 
more  absurd.  Look  through  the  vi^orld,  and 
you  will  find  no  class  of  men  more  vigorous 
and  long-lived  than  active  thinkers.  The 
truth  is,  clergymen  do  not  study  enough. — 
That  they  sit  much,  and  are  more  sequestered 
from  the  hum  and  tumult  of  society  than 
members  of  other  professions,  is  fully  granted. 
But  sitting  is  not  studying,  nor  are  we  willing 
to  bestow  this  respectable  name  on  the  me- 
chanical operation  of  transposing  a  few  stale 
thoughts,  repeated  a  thousand  times,  on  cer- 
tain common-places  of  Didactic  Theology. 
What  the  ministry  need,  is  an  employment 
bringing  them  in  contact  with  a  succession  of 


168  ADDRESS,    ETC. 

new  as  well  as  interesting  objects,  which  will 
produce  an  agreeable  tension  of  the  faculties, 
never  wearying,  or  followed  by  reaction,  be- 
cause sustained  by  a  constant  and  pleasing 
variety.  Such,  you  will  find  to  be  the  regu- 
lar study  and  exposition  of  sacred  Scripture. 
It  will  do  thee  good  like  a  medicine,  and  be 
*'  marrow  to  thy  bones." 

In  view  of  all  these  motives,  we  pray  you, 
as  a  friend  and  brother,  as  one  who  every  day 
looks  back  with  regret  to  his  own  misim- 
provement  of  youthful  privileges,  to  exert  un- 
tiring diligence  in  biblical  preparation  for 
your  work.  Systems  of  human  concoction 
have  their  use  :  but  they  are  of  secondary 
importance.  As  such,  must  you  view  them. 
You  must  get  close  up  to  the  pure  crystal 
fountain,  that  issues  from  the  heavenly  throne. 
There  you  must  dwell ;  thence  must  you 
draw  for  your  own  souls,  and  the  souls  of 
those  committed  to  your  charge.  "  Blessed 
is  the  servant,  who,  when  the  Master  comes, 
shall  be  found  so  doing." 


Date  Due 

>    2.  T-t? 

¥ 

